In This Twilight
by Dark Renegade
Summary: Last chapter!: IshiHime. Each chapter features a different couple, but yet each chapter is essential to the dark tale that places Orihime as the catalyst. Rated M for swearing, violence, and sexual situations
1. Gave Up

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Gave Up

Ulquiorra/Orihime

The First Oneshot of Four

By Renegade Raine

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Perfect little dream, the kind that hurts the most….

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The echo of two sets of footsteps could be heard inside the large building in Hueco Mundo. The first set echoed at a steady rhythm and the crisp sound was very easy to distinguish. The second set, however, were very erratic and didn't sound like footsteps at all as the girl dragged her feet and never moved her gaze from the ground. Down the long drab hallway the espada and the human girl walked until the sounds of their footsteps ceased as they approached a door. After a brief pause, the male unlocked the door and turned the gaze of his intense green colored eyes on the girl, who still eyed the ground.

"This is your room. You may go in and out of the room as you please, but it is advised that you do not do so without me accompanying you. However, we are able to track you, so any plans of escape that you may have in your mind are futile." he spoke in a voice that was just as devoid as the expression on his face.

"I understand, sir." she spoke in a broken voice. She slowly walked into the empty room, which was designed only by rug on the floor. As she approached the center of the room, she turned to look at the pale espada.

"Also, Aizen-sama wishes for you to change into those clothes, as he feels that your current attire does not suit this place." he said as he gestured toward the clothes on the bed in the room.

"Yes, sir." the girl said with a slight bow of her head.

"Very good. I shall take my leave then, but I will be back as I am assigned by Aizen-sama to look after you." he said as he turned to go out the door.

The girl sighed and sat on the bed as her orange tinted hair covered her face. She didn't like the idea of Ulquiorra coming back to see her, but she supposed she should be happy that the insane man whose arm she healed wasn't in charge of her instead. She grimaced as she tried to picture Grimmjaw in Ulquiorra's place. She then looked over at the clothes on the bed and picked up the white colored garments to get a better look at them. They were not her style at all. The design of the clothes looked even more elaborate than the clothes she had witnessed Ishida-kun create before. However, his designs seemed to suit her so much better than the formal clothes she was asked to put on. However, she had willingly gone to Hueco Mundo, otherwise she was sure her friends and many more would be hurt by Aizen and his Espada, or worse, killed. So she deducted that if she was asked to wear weird clothing, it was no big deal in light of her current situation. Breathing another sigh of discontent, she shut the door to her room before going back to put on her clothing.

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Meanwhile, Ulquiorra sat calmly at his spot at the long table as Aizen revealed that Uryuu Ishida, Yasutora Sado, and Ichigo Kurosaki, the three people infamous for invading Soul Society had now invaded Hueco Mundo. While most of the other Espada made a fuss about it in some way, shape, or form, Ulquiorra sat quietly with his usual lack of emotion. Even as Grimmjaw left to try to attack the three on his own, Ulquiorra only remarked in his mind how idiotic he was acting, especially in front of Aizen-sama. As expected though, Grimmjaw's insubordination was quickly grounded through Aizen's power through intimidation. Shortly afterwards, Aizen adjourned the meeting, but told Ulquiorra to stay behind. As his most obedient espada, Ulquiorra stayed in his seat as everyone else turned to leave. When everyone had vacated the premises, Aizen poured a cup of tea into a glass and looked at Ulquiorra with his smile that was somehow warm and devious at the same time.

"How is the girl faring?" Aizen asked him.

"She seemed a bit distraught over her situation, but I do not think she will try to escape." Ulquiorra stated.

"Good, it seems as though she's as smart as I expected her to be." Aizen said warmly as he finished pouring the tea. He then put the cup on a saucer and handed it over to Ulquiorra. "Why don't you bring this to Orihime? After all, it would be rude to not allow our guest the pleasure of tea, correct?"

"As you wish, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra said as he carefully picked up the saucer and calmly walked outside the room. However, once he got out of the conference room, he was met with a most unpleasant surprise. Grimmjaw leaned against the wall that opposed the door to the room that Ulquiorra was just in.

"And what is it that you want?" Ulquiorra asked without emitting a single emotion on his face. Although if he were fully human, he would be at least a bit irritated. "Did Aizen-sama not punish you enough?"

"Pssh." Grimmjaw hissed with a roll of his eyes. "As if I'm scared by that asshole."

At that moment, Ulquiorra wanted to roll his eyes as well, as Grimmjaw had just previously cowered pretty quickly when Aizen showed just a tiny bit of his power. However, he still managed to keep a blank expression.

"So what is it that you want?" Normally, Ulquiorra would just ignored the cerulean haired espada, but even if Ulquiorra was bad at emitting expression, it didn't mean that he was bad at reading them. And he could tell by the scowl on Grimmjaw's face that he had some issue with Ulquiorra himself.

"So you're in charge of the girl, right?" Grimmjaw asked as he folded his arms.

"You mean Orihime Inoue?" Ulquiorra asked.

"No, I meant that arrancar whore you fucked clean dry before the meeting." Grimmjaw said dryly as he rolled his eyes before his sneer grew wider as he looked into the expressionless eyes of the espada across from him. "Of fuckin' course, I meant that broad!"

"Then yes, I am assigned to keep an eye on her. However, I don't see how this information pertains to you." Ulquiorra answered.

"Just remember that bitch is mine." Grimmjaw said with a serious expression. "If you, Aizen, or anyone else try to claim her, I'll fuckin' kill you or whoever else made the move."

"Keep in mind that this girl is to be used only for Aizen-sama and his ambition. If you-" Ulquiorra started, but got cut off by Grimmjaw.

"That doesn't mean jack shit to me." Grimmjaw said with a grunt. "Just fucking remember what I told you."

"I'll remember it. But seeing as my duty is to only look after her, I do not think that you are telling the right person about this. Perhaps you might try telling this to Aizen-sama?" Ulquiorra suggested and started to walk past Grimmjaw. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm supposed to deliver this tea to the girl, and I doubt she likes her tea cold."

Ulquiorra then ignored whatever else Grimmjaw muttered at him as he walked down the hallway to Orihime's room. Ulquiorra made a note to himself to especially keep an eye on him, as he wasn't sure what Grimmjaw would try to pull with that girl. And if his over the top obliteration of the now deceased, Luppi, was any indication, he did anything he damned pleased. Ulquiorra, however, set the thought aside as he approached the silhouette of the human girl.

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Forgot how it feels, well almost…

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Orihime sorrowfully attempted to look outside the high window of her room. She was sure it wasn't anymore exciting outside than it was inside the building, but she was desperate for some kind of stimulation. Or perhaps the more accurate term was some kind of stimulation that didn't involve the risk of running into one of the less than pleasant beings running around the building. Even if she was given permission to roam around, she heeded Ulquiorra's advice after witnessing Luppi's unfriendly banter with her and later Grimmjaw's insane laughter after she had healed his arm, and he in turn used that arm to ram it into Luppi's stomach and then completely vaporized his top half in perhaps the biggest display of power Orihime had ever seen.

Ulquiorra didn't seem as bad to her as the other two espada did, but she could still tell that he was by far the most loyal to Aizen, and therefore was the being to fear the most, aside from Aizen himself. Speaking of Aizen, she was curious as to what exactly he had wanted from her. However, she had the feeling whatever deed it was would not benefit her friends or any one else in the world, which was the only way she wanted to use her power in the first place. If it indeed were bad, she would have to find a way around it. For now though, she had to obey every command that was given to her, as she feared for the safety of her friends, especially Kurosaki-kun in his current state, even if she had almost completely healed him before she left for Hueco Mundo.

As she thought about Ichigo, she smiled and slightly blushed as she remembered the night she had entered his room. He in his injured state was sleeping, but she was glad that she finally had confessed her feelings for him, even if he could not hear a single word she said. However, the only thing that depressed her even a single bit was that in the back of her mind, she somehow knew it would be the last and only time she would ever see his room. Breathing a sigh, she put a hand to her heart as she thought about all of her friends.

"Buddha, God, Shiva, Jesus, Thor, Zeus, Ra, Muhammad, Easter Bunny…I'm not sure which of you is the real god…but please…keep Tatsuki, Sado-kun, Ishida-kun, Rukia-san, Kurosaki-kun and everyone safe, since I can't right now." Orihime said quietly.

"Surprisingly, it looks good on you." Orihime heard a distinctively emotionless voice say from the back of the room. Startled, she turned around.

"Wah! Wh-when did you get here?!" Orihime exclaimed. If Ulquiorra had heard what she had just said, she was sure she would not like the result.

"Just now. Please cease your idle banter." Ulquiorra answered. "There is news. Your friends have invaded Hueco Mundo."

Orihime's heart skipped a beat. On one hand, she was happy that they cared enough to go after her. On the other, she was petrified for the sake of their lives. She had seen all of her friends fight, and she had seen just a sample of the powers the Espada held. Her friends stood no chance.

"…why?" Orihime said mostly to herself, although it was audible enough for Ulquiorra to hear.

"To rescue you." Ulquiorra answered. "To them, no other reason is necessary."

"…in order…to rescue me." Orihime said to herself, louder than she meant to. Oh, what was she going to do? She only hindered everyone when she was, and now that they were intending to rescue her, they could quite possibly get killed!

"Correct." Ulquiorra stated. "However, as of now, that should mean nothing to you. We already own both your body and soul. That you're wearing what you are solidifies that fact, Orihime Inoue."

"Yes sir." Orihime muttered. To save her friends, she would have to be obedient as she possibly could.

"Say it." Ulquiorra demanded. "Your body and soul…just what purpose do they have now?"

"Yes sir." Orihime answered, regretting the next few words to come out of her mouth. "Their only purpose is for Aizen-sama and his ambition."

"Good." Ulquiorra responded. "Now master Aizen has been kind enough to send this tea over to you, so if you wish to partake, feel free. However, I must take care of other things right now, so I have to take my leave."

As promised, after he set the tea on the ground, Ulquiorra then left the room. As soon as she heard the door close, Orihime fell to her knees on the ground. Why did her friends have to come after her? She had left to keep them safe, but once again she put them in danger again. But she would not let them die. She would think of a way to save them…somehow. However, she did not know how at that moment. As she eyed the tea though, she promised herself and every one of her friends that this time, she would not be a burden.

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No one to blame, always the same…

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As Ulquiorra left the room, he looked back on Orihime's expression when he had forced her to state her loyalty to Aizen. He had heard her whisper her prayer or whatnot about her so-called friends, so he figured he would make sure the girl's mind was in the right place. However, he noted that her brows didn't even flinch when he had asked her questions. As he had continued down the hallway, he remarked that she was a firm minded woman. But then he started to question whether it was right or not to force that girl, Orihime, to their side using the tactic they had employed. He quickly erased the doubt from his mind though as he scolded himself for briefly going against the words of his creator and master, Aizen. No sooner than he had dismissed his thoughts though, he heard someone behind him.

"Yo." A crude and bold statement like that could only come from two people in the building. One was Grimmjaw…

"So how was she doing, that pet-sama?" the voice continued. However, the lack of anger and the surplus of cockiness in the voice narrowed it down to the only other person.

"Noitora." Ulquiorra simply stated as he turned around.

"I know what you're up to." He said in a somewhat singsong voice. "You've been ordered by Aizen-sama to look after that woman, right? I'm so envious."

Ulquiorra simply stared at the fellow Espada waiting for his next comment. Narrowing the eye not covered by an eye patch, Noitora gave him a sinister grin.

"So…how much did you 'teach' her?" Noitora said in a lowered voice. To that, Ulquiorra gave him a long, expressionless glare before turning around the other way.

"…Disgusting." Ulquiorra said as he continued walking. He did not get far at all though, as in a flash, Noitora appeared in front of him and slammed a hand against the wall to prevent Ulquiorra from moving any further. With a grin, Noitora looked down at the considerably smaller espada.

"Don't get so pissed off." Noitora cooed as his long hair fell down across his shoulders looking down. "I'm just asking if you did a good job. No?"

"You are curious?" Ulquiorra asked. "How very small minded of you."

"What did you say?" Noitora asked as his eye narrowed.

Ulquiorra then went on to explain how Aizen had set up the plan to get Orihime to willingly go to Hueco Mundo and how it psychologically trapped her to Aizen. As Ulquiorra finished explaining, Noitora grinned yet again.

"What a nice thought out plan as expected from Aizen, should I say?" Noitora said mockingly.

"What a nice thought out plan, you say?" Ulquiorra asked. "For Aizen, this is just a game. If it succeeds, good. If it doesn't, just as well. Regardless, that woman holds no power for running away from this place. The will to fight back nor the strength for it."

"Sounds like you think you know your stuff." Noitora noted as he narrowed his eye again. "But I wouldn't be so sure if I were you."

"And why is that, may I ask?" Ulquiorra asked, as even he was starting to get annoyed.

"Didn't Aizen-sama say these humans were unpredictable?" Noitora stated. "You might think you have that woman pinned down, but I bet she's conspiring against all of us as we speak."

"If you think you have a better idea on how to handle the girl, perhaps you should ask Aizen for the job." Ulquiorra told him as he finally walked away. Noitora only stood watching him walk away. When he was sure Ulquiorra was out of earshot, he allowed a wide, devious grin to cover his face.

"Perhaps I will."

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Open my eyes…wake up in flames…

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Orihime sat on the couch in her room as she went over the events in her earlier meeting with Aizen. He had showed her a device, which he called the "Hougyoku" and explained that he would need her power to reactivate it, as it was the tool he used to create arrancars from hollows. She did not believe that he had showed her the Hougyoku because he trusted her, but she at least now knew where he kept the device. After a bit more thought, she finally knew that she had to use her powers to return the Hougyoku to a state before it existed. However, it would require a lot more thought and patience.

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Ulquiorra stood in front of Aizen, as he was summoned for a routine meeting. Calmly, Ulquiorra looked at the back of Aizen's large white chair. Finally, after a few moments, Aizen turned around. At the sight of his most loyal subject, Aizen smiled as he rested his check against a hand.

"You're doing a very good job with Orihime." Aizen commented. "She hasn't shown even the smallest sign of going against me. I knew you would excel at your task."

Ulquiorra was immune to the effects of compliments, so he merely just stood in his usual emotionless stage, waiting for Aizen to continue.

"Noitora has voiced an interest of looking after the girl, but due to your results, I denied him that request." Aizen noted.

"That was a wise decision." Ulquiorra said, remembering the time when the sole female in the Espada was officially put into their ranks. Noitora had constantly hit on her, but she just merely shrugged him off. But when he had grown more aggressive with his flirting and had shoved her into a corner and attempted to grope one of her ample breasts, she had swiftly used her sword on him. The next day, he donned an eye patch.

"That's what I believe as well." Aizen agreed. "So are there any questions you would like to ask me?"

"No." Ulquiorra stated, although he did have one in mind.

"Even if you are the best at masking your emotions, I can still tell you have something in mind." Aizen said with a raise of a brow.

"My apologies, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra said. Guess there was no escaping this one. "I was just merely curious as to what purpose you hope to achieve with the girl."

"I thought I had told you already?" Aizen said with a tilt of his head. "I want her to reactivate the Hougyoku, so that I may continue to give former Hollows, such as you, a second chance to live as arrancars. And if they are as talented as you, as an Espada. As I have answered your question, you may now leave to check on the girl."

"Yes, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra said with a bow of his head before leaving the room. As he left the room though, Ulquiorra thought hard about what had just conspired. Even if Aizen had answered the question, something just didn't add up to Ulquiorra. It seemed to him as he had another purpose. And for the first time in his life as an arrancar, he realized that he could not fully trust Aizen.

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It took you to make me realize…

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As Ulquiorra entered Orihime's room, the girl's expression immediately turned into a more panicked one. Ulquiorra ignored her mannerisms, as he was momentarily distracted by his thoughts before he entered the room. Orihime noticed that the normally attentive espada was acting a little unusual with a furrow of her brow.

"Is something wrong?"" Orihime asked.

"What use did Aizen-sama say he had of you?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Uh…he said something about reactivating some Hougyoku so that he may be able to turn more hollows into arrancars, I think…" Orihime responded. Although it did not show on his face, Ulquiorra realized something was not right. Aizen had told Orihime nearly the same thing as he had told Ulquiorra himself. Obviously, Aizen had another hidden motive and whatever it was, he did not want Ulquiorra to know what that was. What was going on that Aizen couldn't even tell his most "trusted" espada? Ulquiorra could tell that the girl was getting very curious at his peculiar behavior, so he blanked his expression again.

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It took you to make me see the light…

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"Do you wish to go for a walk?" Ulquiorra asked. Orihime's gray eyes widened in terror a little at the question.

"No, not really." Orihime responded, fearing running into another espada.

"Do not worry. I'll escort you, and seeing my position, no other arrancar or espada will try to mess with you."

"Well…okay. If you insist." Orihime said hesitantly. Silently, Ulquiorra walked outside the door and when he didn't hear the drag of Orihime's feet behind him, he turned his head to look at the stationary form of Orihime. Even if Ulquiorra's face was never readable, Orihime could tell he was giving her an impatient look, so she quickly paced behind him.

After the two had gone some way down the long hall, Orihime noticed that she could not even detect the reiatsu of any arrancar anywhere near the area they were at. Giving Ulquiorra a curious look, she dragged her feet a little slower as she feared the intentions of taking her to a secluded place. Obviously Ulquiorra was not the type to make any advances toward her, but what if he had been ordered to kill her because of her friends invading Hueco Mundo?

"Wh-where are we going?" Orihime finally squeaked out.

"We need to talk." Ulquiorra said in a calm voice, which greatly contrasted from the girl's.

"What about?" Orihime asked, trying to hide her fear.

"This should be far enough." Ulquiorra said more to himself and then turned to Orihime. "First of all, did Aizen show you the Hougyoku?"

"Um…yes." Orihime answered, temporarily distracted by Ulquiorra not referring to Aizen with the sama honorific. With that answer, Ulquiorra now knew there was something very suspicious about his master's intentions with the girl. Even if the girl, Orihime Inoue, had joined willingly, surely his master knew there was still a good chance that she would try to destroy the Hougyoku? But if he showed her the location of it, what was he trying to pull? Ulquiorra could only conclude that perhaps Aizen was TRYING to get the girl to destroy it. But why?

"You do know that you should not even think of destroying it, correct?" Ulquiorra stated.

"Of course! I wouldn't even think of it!" Orihime exclaimed.

"Don't bother lying to me." Ulquiorra said. Orihime bit her lip in fear, as she was sure she was going to die then and there. "Aizen is planning something more sinister than you can imagine."

"I'm sorry!" Orihime said on the brink of tears. "I didn't mean any offense! Just please don't hurt my friends!" 

"Whatever Aizen plan is, he doesn't want either of us to know what it is." Ulquiorra continued. Shocked, Orihime wiped the tears that were starting to form and looked up at the pale face of Ulquiorra. "Until I find out what that plan is, you must not make any decisions with haste. Somehow we're both pawns in Aizen's game, and if we make any wrong move, we're both dead."

"I…I understand." Orihime muttered.

"Do not speak of our conversation to anyone and keep any thoughts of yours in your head. Learn to control your facial expressions as well." Ulquiorra told her. Orihime nodded and Ulquiorra turned to go back in the direction they come from. "If we're gone for any longer, we'll look suspicious. We must go back."

"O-okay." Orihime replied. As Ulquiorra's footsteps echoed down the long hallway, the footsteps behind him were no longer distinguishable, as they now closely resembled the first set of footsteps. Orihime did not know what exactly was going on, or if she could trust Ulquiorra, but she felt confident that she now at least had one person on her side.

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Smashed up my sanity…

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As soon as the two returned to Orihime's room, Ulquiorra was a bit taken back at the sight of Aizen waiting for them in her room. Even if Ulquiorra kept a calm exterior, inside his mind, he was going through paranoia. Did Aizen know what he was up to? If he did, never mind the fact that Ulquiorra would be removed from the ranks of the espada, Aizen for sure would have him obliterated by the extermination squad.

"Did you two have a nice walk?" Aizen asked pleasantly.

"I was giving her a tour, so that she may move more effectively if you wish her to do more tasks for you." Ulquiorra stated.

"Well, that was very thoughtful of you." Aizen responded. "And did you enjoy your tour, Orihime?" 

"Yes sir." She replied.

"Good, so I assume you have nothing else to do, Ulquiorra?" Aizen asked.

"Not unless you have an assignment for me." Ulquiorra responded.

"Actually, I do." Aizen said, with his smile turning more devious. "All of my other espada are busy on little errands I assigned for them, however I only trust you with this job. Despite the heavy protection I put around this building, it seems as though the one called Yasutora Sado has managed to get through and is getting dangerously close to our location. Eliminate him at all costs."

"Yes, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra said with a bow of his head. Orihime's eyes widened in fear for her friend, but she did not say anything, as she feared she would worsen the situation. Before Ulquiorra left the room though, he gave Orihime a glance. And even if she still could not read his expression, she was somehow sure that she had nothing to fear.

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Smashed up my integrity…

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As Ulquiorra advanced closer to the towering form of Yasutora Sado, who was otherwise known as Chad to that girl, he could already tell that he was greatly weakened by the previous fights he had to go through to get to this point. As Chad set his gaze on the green-eyed espada, he positioned his hands for combat. However, Ulquiorra could tell that any reiatsu he had was drained at the moment. Seeing the opportunity, Ulquiorra struck him in lightning fast speed. As Chad fell to the ground, Ulquiorra slowly advanced toward him. After making sure the coast was clear, Ulquiorra leaned down to speak in a very low voice.

"Although that attack will greatly injure you, you will not be killed. When you cannot detect any other reiatsu in the area, flee back to your friends, and bring back more allies to your cause. I do not know what Aizen is planning, but it is not good for anyone. However, as long as I'm around, I will not let anything happen to the girl."

Knowing that the man had heard everything, Ulquiorra turned around and made his way to the conference room to report to Aizen.

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Smashed up what I believed in…

Smashed up what's left of me…

Smashed up my everything…

Gonna smash myself to pieces…

I don't know what else to do.

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Standing behind the large white chair with his hands folded behind his back, Ulquiorra waited for Aizen's reaction to his report of him disposing of Yasutora Sado. Finally, Aizen turned around to look at him.

"So you say you disposed of that man?" Aizen asked.

"Yes, I hit a vital point. There's no way he could have survived." Ulquiorra answered.

"I see." Aizen said. "Then could you tell me exactly why Tousen sensed him joining his friends outside the building?"

Ulquiorra's eyes widened at the shock of Aizen already knowing that Chad had managed to escape. He had hoped for an hour, at least. He was thankful, however, that his shock actually managed to benefit him.

"There's no way he could have survived that." Ulquiorra said in the most shocked tone he could muster, which didn't sound very shocked at all.

"We all make mistakes." Aizen said. "Even if this was a rather big mistake, I'll give you the chance to make this up."

Aizen then stood up at walked over to a device, which opened as he hovered his hand over it. He then took an orb shaped object and handed it over to Ulquiorra.

"Take this to the girl and have her reactivate it. After that, be sure you take it back to me. This will show me just how much I can trust you."

"I understand, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra stated. Now he was put into a really tight spot. Should he have her activate it and deal with the possible consequences or have her destroy it and risk greater consequence? As he made his way to Orihime's room, he deducted that there was only one thing he could do, even if it had a low chance of succeeding.

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Covered in hope and Vaseline...

Still cannot fix this broken machine.

Watching this hole, it used to be mine.

Just watching it burn in my steady, systematic decline.

Of the trust, I will betray.

Give it to me, I'll throw it away.

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Ulquiorra quickly entered Orihime's room, startling her. But when she saw the orb in Ulquiorra's hand, her mouth fell open.

"Ulquiorra, what are you thinking?!" Orihime said in a lowered voice.

"Aizen asked me to have you reactivate this." Ulquiorra simply stated.

"But what will happen if I do?" Orihime asked.

"I do not know." Ulquiorra responded.

"Then what will happen if I destroy it?" Orihime asked.

"I do not know." Ulquiorra repeated.

"Then what should I do?" Orihime asked in a panicked voice.

"There's only one thing we can do." Ulquiorra answered. "If we do not do anything to the orb, then nothing bad can happen out of it, correct?"

"I suppose so." Orihime responded, thinking hard about it. "But what will Aizen do if we don't do anything?"

"That's where our problem lies." Ulquiorra affirmed. "And the only solution we have to that problem is to escape."

"What?!" Orihime exclaimed.

"And we must run now, while no one with a high level of reiatsu is in our path." Ulquiorra said as he moved back out the door and looked out. Orihime followed closely behind. "Go. I'll go behind you to make sure you are not taken."

"Okay, here I go!" Orihime said as she started running outside the door.

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After everything I've done, I hate myself for what I've become…

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As the two ran without hesitation down the hallway, they were met with only weak opposition. As Orihime ran though, Ulquiorra managed to take care of their obstacles with the greatest of ease. Eventually, the two saw the light of the door to the outside, and he heard Orihime breathe out of relief.

That moment however was short lived as in a flash, Aizen appeared with the entire group of his extermination squad. Without a single hint of fear in his face, Ulquiorra gripped his sword and faced the opposition that drastically outnumbered him and the girl.

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I tried…

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However, before Ulquiorra could get even one moved in, he sensed a reiatsu appear from behind him at a blindingly quick speed. Ulquiorra managed to turn quick enough to gaze into a familiar white eye patch before both of his arms were ripped off as if they were paper.

"I suppose if I told you to give yourself a hand, everyone would groan." Noitora said with a grin as he dangled the arms in front of Ulquiorra, before throwing them aside. Despite being in grave physical pain, Ulquiorra still managed to make no expression on his face as he rolled his eyes.

"Out of everyone that has betrayed me…" Aizen said from behind. "…you are the person that has disappointed me the most. You had so much potential, but you wasted it all on that girl."

Orihime tried to go over to Ulquiorra to heal him, but several extermination members held her back. Instead, she screamed his name as she struggled to get free.

"I gave you the fake Hougyoku, as I figured you would try to pull a move like that. I had hoped it wasn't true, but Noitora brought it to my attention that you may be getting a little attached to that girl." Aizen explained. "It disappoints me to do this, but I'm going to have to get rid of you."

"No!" Orihime yelled. "This isn't his fault!"

"But before you die, allow me to give you a glimpse of the real Hougyoku, as I believe that deep down, you supported my dream." Aizen dug inside his white coat and pulled out an orb. Instantly, Ulquiorra was able to detect the dormant power emanating from it. "I didn't even show the real one to Orihime, so you should feel honored to see it now."

As if on cue, several members of the extermination squad surrounded Ulquiorra in a circle. The others continued to restrain Orihime as tears went down her face.

----------

I gave up.

----------

Instantly, the pieces of the puzzle all lined up in Ulquiorra's head. He knew exactly what Aizen wanted the girl to think, and this very moment was a plan in his game. However, as the extermination squad prepared their attack, he would not have time to warn the girl. He turned his gaze up from the ground and looked directly at Orihime, whose eyes were red from tears.

"Orihime Inoue." He stated.

"What is it?" Orihime asked, momentarily stopping her tears.

"I'm sorry." He simply declared. Moments later, the room was filled with a huge light as the extermination squad unleashed their fatal attack. When the light faded, the only trace of Ulquiorra that was left in the room were ashes.

----------

Throw it away.

----------

The extermination members finally released their hold on Orihime, as she fell to the ground, sobbing. Once again, she was responsible for the death of someone trying to help her. Aizen looked down at her with a look that almost resembled pity, before he looked back up at Noitora.

"Noitora." Aizen called out.

"Yes, Aizen-sama?" Noitora asked.

"Would you please escort Orihime back to her room?" Aizen requested.

"With pleasure." Noitora responded with a big grin. He then looked down at the broken form of Orihime. He knew it would be useless to ask her to get up, so he picked her up and put her under one of his arms. "Shall we go…pet-sama?

All that could be heard down the hall was a single set of cocky steps, along with the wailing of the girl named Orihime.

----------

Author's Notes

This oneshot…it turned out a WHOLE lot longer than I expected it to. XD

However, this is only the first part of four that I plan on writing for this particular story. I'm sure you can guess the pairing in the next part, as I made it fairly obvious. The next part will probably make all of you hate me, but it'll be different…that's for sure.

The song I used in this oneshot chapter is "Gave Up" by Nine Inch Nails, the best band in existence right now.

This will probably be my least favorite of the four parts, and I know this is far from perfect, but if ya got constructive criticism, let me have it. :D

On a side note, Ulquiorra is a REALLY fun character to write.


	2. Eraser

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The Downward Spiral

Chapter Two: Eraser

Noitora/Orihime

By Renegade Raine

----------

----------

Need You…

----------

His plan had fallen into place far easier than even he, Noitora, thought. Ever since he had laid eyes on her very womanly figure, Noitora made it his goal to make damned sure that he'd have her. However, when that ass-kisser, Ulquiorra had been given responsibility for the girl, naturally Noitora was a little pissed off. Not only did Aizen not entrust the woman to him, but he also handed her over to the person with the least amount of sex drive in the entire fucking Hueco Mundo area.

Even if Noitora was not human, he still had his needs, as he had only seen four different females before Orihime had been forced to join their ranks. Lolly was an Aizen obsessed twat, so there was no way he was going to touch that. Menoly looked like a female Grimmjaw, and even if Noitora were into guys, he wouldn't let Grimmjaw anywhere near him. Cirucci was a lot better in terms of looks, but all she ever did was bitch about how no one in the entire area was man enough for her, so Noitora eliminated that possibility. The female Espada though…he had a little more luck with her. However, even after she had taken out his eye, he still managed to get intimate with her in one encounter. However, she somehow turned the situation on him, and made Noitora the bitch. To this day, he was still trying to wipe the experience from his memory.

That human girl though…she was perfect. She had that pretty orange hair he could pull. She had those young, long legs, which he could bend in anyway possible. Not to mention her breasts were comparable to the ample breasts of the female Espada. The best part though was that she was at Aizen and the rest of the Espada's mercy, so she couldn't afford to adopt the 'holier than thou' attitude that bitch Espada had, so he could do anything he damned well please with that girl.

When he had confronted Ulquiorra, he challenged him to ask Aizen for the ownership of the girl. Noitora knew it would be incredibly moronic to simply ask Aizen for the job, but if there was one thing that Noitora would never do, it was to back down from a challenge. So for a couple of days, Noitora laid low and kept an eye on Ulquiorra's behavior. At first, he got frustrated, as Ulquiorra didn't do anything unusual. However, that frustration melted away when he had seen him walk the girl down to an area in which no one in Hueco Mundo ever ventured to. With a grin, Noitora had run to Aizen to report Ulquiorra's suspicious behavior. Then together with Aizen, the two had concocted a plan to make Ulquiorra present his renegade behavior in the open, giving Aizen a reason to exterminate him.

As a reward for reporting the suspicious behavior, Aizen had then handed him the task of looking after the girl, which started after Ulquiorra was vanquished. He wanted to indulge in his desires as soon as possible, but by the time he had delivered the girl in her room, she had passed out from the agony of her situation. He supposed he could do whatever he wanted to her while she was asleep, but that would be no fun for him at all. So now, all he could do was lean his head against a hand as he watched her sleep on the rug in her room from the large, white couch.

With a bored groan, he noted to himself how slow time seemed to pass when there was something you were anxiously waiting for.

----------

Dream you…

----------

She didn't know how it happened, but somehow, Orihime was completely free to walk out of the building she had been held captive in. Sunlight encased her body as she walked out into the desert. She walked for about a mile, before she tried to detect the reiatsu of her friends. However, she could not feel anything. She couldn't even feel the reiatsu of the enemy. It was almost as if she were the only person in the entire world. But that couldn't be right…could it?

Orihime immediately started running, hoping to sense something…anything. She ran and ran, but all she could see around her was sand and the footprints she left behind. Finally out of stamina, Orihime stopped and bent over to catch her breath. When she had come back up, she was startled to see Ulquiorra stand right in front of her. At first, Orihime was relieved that he was still alive, until she saw that both of his arms were still missing from his body. Concern immediately filled her face as she tried to go over to heal him.

"Forget it. Your skills are useless in this world." Ulquiorra said, as emotionless as ever.

"But I had healed that other Espada guy…what was his name again?" Orihime argued.

"You don't understand, do you?" Ulquiorra retorted. "This is all just a dream."

"So you…" Orihime started.

"Yes, I'm still dead." Ulquiorra confirmed. Orihime looked down sorrowfully. "However, before you wake up, you must know something. For if you do exactly what Aizen wants you to, the consequences will be dire."

"Tell me! What must I know?!" Orihime asked.

"That Hougyoku…" Ulquiorra started, but soon after he started to talk, Orihime suddenly felt a sharp pain strike her in the side. She tried to look back at Ulquiorra, but all she could see was black all around her. She felt the pain strike her again, which forced her to open her eyes. The first thing she saw was Noitora's grinning face. Instantly, Orihime wished that she could go back to sleep.

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Find you…

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After a few minutes of watching the girl sleep, Noitora grew beyond the point of being bored. He considered letting her sleep however long she wanted, so she would have all of her energy, but then he realized the possibility that she might be faking her sleep to avoid confrontation with him. Pissed off at the realization, Noitora stood up and kicked the girl hard in the side. When she didn't wake up fast enough, he kicked her again. Finally, the girl had opened her eyes. He noticed that she flinched a little at the sight of him, but that only served to excite him even more.

Realizing she was still trapped in Hueco Mundo and that Ulquiorra was dead, Orihime rolled to her knees and started sobbing. This pissed Noitora off. Last time she had started crying, she passed out from it. Aggressively, Noitora picked her up by the hair with one hand and slapped her across the face with the other.

"For fuck's sake!" Noitora exclaimed. "How fucking long are you going to cry anyways? From now on, the only time you cry is when I'm the god damned cause of it! Do you understand?!"

"Y-yes!" Orihime said out of terror. Noitora didn't look pleased from her response.

"What the hell did that eunuch teach you anyways?" Noitora said with the roll of his eye. "From now on, you refer to me as 'master'. Are we clear?"

"Y-yes…" Orihime stated, only to be met with another slap. "I understand, master!"

"Now that we've come to an understanding, it wouldn't be right if I didn't know your name, don't you think?"

"My name is Orihi-" she started.

"No." Noitora interrupted. "From now on, I will only know you as pet-sama. Now tell me, what is your name?"

"My name…is pet-sama, master." Orihime said as she looked down.

"At least you're a smart one." Noitora said with a satisfied smirk. "That's all for now. Feel free to roam the place, but you better make damned sure that you're in this room when I come back, clear?"

"Y-yes master." Orihime responded as Noitora left the room. When she was absolute sure that his reiatsu was nowhere near her, she bent over her bed and silently cried over her situation.

----------

Taste you…

----------

After Orihime cried out all of her frustration, she knew that to keep from going completely insane, she had to take a walk. At this point, she didn't care if she ran into any of the other arrancar or Espada. All she wanted to do was clear her mind, and if she did run into anyone, she'd welcome it.

Cautiously, she opened the door and looked both ways. She sensed some reiatsu from others, but none of it belonged to Noitora, so she felt safe to go into the hallway. With a sigh of relief, she started on her little stroll, ignoring the random arrancar who would pass by her. Already, her mind had reached one of peace and she was able to drive her mind away from her current angst. However, not long after she had obtained her peace, she had detected a strong reiatsu form. She stopped, fearful of whom it might be. But as she tried to figure out who it was, she managed to eliminate the possibility in her head that it was Aizen, Gin, or Noitora. Relieved that it wasn't either of those three, she continued walking in the same direction, just because she was curious. Although she knew there was a good possibility that she would regret it later. As she approached the solitary figure, she found that it was someone she had not encountered before. It was a woman who wore a coat that barely covered her breasts. Her blond hair contrasted vividly with her dark skin, which really brought out her turquoise eyes. The arrancar woman simply looked over at Orihime before speaking.

"You're that girl, aren't you?" she spoke.

"Uh…yeah…I think so?" Orihime responded.

"Noitora is looking after you now, correct?" The woman asked.

"Y-yes ma'am." Orihime answered.

"In that case, I'm sorry for what you'll have to go through." The woman said. "I'm bound to my duty to Aizen-sama, so I can not help you in any way. However, it doesn't mean I don't pity you in your position. I know Noitora better than anyone, after all."

"Are you and Noitora friends?" Orihime asked, finding it hard to imagine those two getting along.

"No." she simply responded.

"Then are you guys…" Orihime started, finding it even weirder if they were in some kind of relationship.

"Just trust me when I say that I know him better than anyone else." The woman said, not wanting to give out details of their one encounter. Even if she had easily dominated Noitora, her and Orihime were two completely different people. Deep down inside, she wished she could help the girl, but as an Espada and arrancar, she was determined to fight for Aizen's cause, no matter what it should be. However, she could make it a little easier on the girl, as she had just picked up a very familiar reiatsu heading toward Orihime's room. "I suggest you leave…Noitora won't make it easy for you if you don't get in your room soon."

"Right…thanks for the tip!" Orihime said as she too picked up the reiatsu. Running as if her life were at stake, she quickly made it back inside her room. Before she could even stop to catch her breath though, she was harshly pushed against the wall and was forced to look at Noitora's grinning face.

"Right on time…you're a good little pet-sama, aren't you?" Noitora cooed. His grin then turned darker as he looked at her. "I think you deserve a reward."

Before Orihime could even comprehend what he meant, he brought his face closer to hers and immediately used his tongue to force her to open her mouth. Once he gained access inside her mouth, he slid his tongue against hers. Orihime had never kissed anyone in her life before, so she was clueless what to do. When she looked across at Noitora's face though and saw an impatient glare, she immediately closed her eyes and allowed her tongue to enter Noitora's mouth.

The unfortunate thing for her was that it would only go downhill from there.

----------

Fuck you…

----------

Content with the girl's response, Noitora finally pulled away. He watched as the girl rubbed her bruised lips a moment as he wondered what he wanted to do to her next. Well, there were several things that he wanted to do to her, but he just couldn't decide on what he wanted to do first.

"Oh pet-sama…I've got some news for you." Noitora said to her. "One of your friends came to see you."

"What happened…master?" Orihime asked, afraid of the fate any one of her friends might of had to face.

"I don't remember his name, but even if he were about as tall as I am, he didn't have even a speck of power in him. He tried to punch me, and I nearly died of laughter from how weak it was." Noitora responded.

"Sado-kun…" Orihime said, figuring it must be him, as he was the only person that could have been as tall as Noitora.

"Ah yes…that was his name. It doesn't matter now though, I killed him." Noitora said casually. "Ulquiorra didn't have the balls to kill him before, so I just merely made up for his mistake."

"No…" Orihime muttered as she started to sink to the floor.

"What? Aren't you happy that I'm still alive?" Noitora asked as he narrowed his eye. When Orihime gave him a defiant glare, Noitora got the impression that she wasn't. However, when a pet acts out of line, the one way to deal with it was to punish them. He did just that as he left a red mark on her face with his hand. "I suggest that unless you want me to kill more of your friends, you had better damned well meet all of my demands."

"I…I understand, master." Orihime said meekly. Inside, her sanity was slowly falling apart, but she kept it together for now, because she was afraid of the consequences not only to herself, but also for everyone she cared about.

"In that case, take off your shirt and go lie on your bed." Noitora said, while keeping a straight face.

"What?!" Orihime exclaimed, hoping she didn't hear what she just thought she heard.

"Don't try that shit with me, you know what I said." Noitora said with a slight shrug.

Knowing she had no other choice, Orihime went over to her bed slowly and sat down. Looking away from Noitora's smarmy, grinning face, she started to take off the top part of her white dress. When she finished, she laid down on the bed and closed her eyes. She then heard footsteps approach her, which stooped by her side.

"Open your eyes, pet-sama." She heard him say, with a hint of irritation. Frowning, Orihime obeyed his command. Noitora's sneer slowly turned into his wide, trademark grin as he moved his face lower to her. As he raised a hand to explore though, he heard the door creak open. Ah fuck, he had forgot to lock the door. He made a note to make damned sure he did it next time he paid his pet a visit.

"Aizen-sama requests your presence." The female Espada spoke as she surveyed the scene. As her eyes scanned over to the bed and saw Orihime topless with a very annoyed looking Noitora hovering above her, the Espada just merely raised an eyebrow.

"What? Did you want to join too?" Noitora asked, raising his own eyebrow.

"You couldn't handle me before." The espada said as she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Do you really want another go?"

"For fuck's sake, I was only joking!" Noitora yelled as he got up.

"Then quit your idiotic banter and report to Aizen-sama immediately." The Espada said stoically. She then watched as Noitora grumbled as he passed by her. When he had left the room, she looked over at Orihime's dumbfounded expression and gave her a slight shrug before following Noitora down the hall to the meeting room.

-----------

Use you…

-----------

Even if Noitora was not happy about being called to a meeting right before he was going to have his way with his pet, it pleased him to hear that Ichigo and the rest of the gang were closing in on the building once again, and this time they had brought friends. The one that caught Noitora's attention was a female that kind of looked like a guy at first glance, but second glance, her face was actually pretty nice. Aizen had told everyone that female went by the name of Tatsuki Arisawa, and that she was Orihime's best friend in the living world.

Aizen then told everyone to not pursue the invading offenders, but if they approached any of their bases, to attack at will and not let anyone get their hands on Orihime Inoue at any cost. Noitora grunted at that remark. As if he would let anyone lay their hands on HIS pet. The meeting was then adjourned, and Noitora was glad, as he now had a plan on how to get his other eye back. Then his fun would REALLY begin!

That plan had to wait, however, as he was met with a blade of a zanpakuto near his neck as he exited out one of the doors. Noitora first looked down at the blade of the sword before moving his gaze down to the cerulean-eyed Espada.

"Well now, is that any way to treat your comrade?" Noitora asked. "What the fuck is your problem anyways?"

"I'll tell you what I told that fucking princess, Ulquiorra, and he was smart enough to heed my words." Grimmjow started and then narrowed his eyes. "That bitch is mine."

"Oh really?" Noitora responded. "Forgive me, but I was about to have my way with her before this meeting started. Perhaps I should go finish the job?"

Grimmjow responded by attempting to slice his zanpakuto through Noitora's throat, but Noitora quickly sidestepped it and activated his zanpakuto, to reveal its massive, twin crescent moon design.

"How exciting, a practice match before those humans get here!" Noitora said with an evil grin. "However, I don't think this will take long."

Before either could make a move though, both were repelled by Aizen's massive reiatsu pressure. As both kneeled on the floor, Aizen simply glared at both of them.

"Now boys…you both know that now is not the time to be fighting amongst yourselves." Aizen said coolly. "I'll let you both go, but you both must return to your stations, understand?" 

Aizen then let up his reiatsu energy a little, allowing both Espadas to stand up. Grimmjow merely swore before walking the other way. Noitora only grimaced before continuing down the hall to Orihime's room. When he entered, he saw that she had put her top back on, but it didn't matter since he wasn't after her body for the moment.

"You'll never believe the news I heard, pet-sama." Noitora said. Orihime knew it couldn't be good, but she did not move her eyes away from Noitora for one second. "It seems as though Ichigo has come to save you again!"

Despite the singsong way Noitora delivered the line, Orihime couldn't help but to feel miserable. Already Noitora had killed one of her friends. She didn't know if she could handle losing another one.

"Not only that!" Noitora continued. "But your best friend has come to see you too!"

Instantly, Orihime's face turned grim. He couldn't be talking about Tatsuki-chan, could he? Oh god…what was she going to do? If she lost both the person she had sworn to love in five different lives AND her friend who had been with her through childhood, she knew that she would slip into insanity, and there was no telling in what would occur if that happened.

"I was told to attack anyone who got in my way, and I intend to follow that order, just so you know." Noitora told her. "However, I'll reconsider if you do me a favor."

"Anything!" Orihime exclaimed in desperation.

"Fix my eye." Noitora stated. Orihime was surprised, as she was expecting to have to do some sexual favor for him, but she wasn't going to say anything. Putting her hands near Noitora's eyepatch, Orihime called out Souten and Kisshun.

"I reject!" Orihime said, and instantly a shield formed over his face. Within seconds, the shield disappeared and Orihime stepped back. Noitora blinked once before moving his hand up over his eyepatch. With a sudden movement, he ripped the small piece of fabric off of his face. For the first time in years, he was finally able to see out of both eyes. He looked over at Orihime's discontented face and aggressively jammed his tongue in her mouth. He had performed the action so quick, that Orihime didn't even get time to comprehend what was going on before he had moved his hand over one of her large breasts. Even if he was momentarily caught in the passion of his lust, he still managed to detect a huge reiatsu energy coming near the building. With a grin, he stood up and walked toward the door.

"Wait, you said you wouldn't hurt them!" Orihime exclaimed.

"What I said was that I would reconsider. And that's what I did. However, I did not change my mind." Noitora said with a shrug. "But I'll be back, pet-sama…I guarantee that."

Before Orihime could protest though, Noitora sped down the hall at a faster speed than she could register with her eyes. Feeling defeated, Orihime sank her face into her bed and wept. Somehow, she had the feeling that she had just been used.

-----------

Scar you…

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Humming to himself after his very short battle, he carried a small bag with him. Even if the battle was so boringly easy, he still managed to pick up a present for his pet. She seemed a little down when he left, and being the considerate person he was, he figured he'd cheer her up a little. As he entered the room, he looked at Orihime's glare at him. Sure, it pissed him off, but he didn't feel like slapping her. Not when he had a present for her!

"Why are you looking at me like that for?" Noitora asked. "I didn't kill Ichigo, so you shouldn't get so pissed at me."

Orihime looked a little relieved, but still didn't completely wipe the expression from her face.

"And what about Tatsuki-chan?" Orihime asked.

"Oh, about that!" Noitora exclaimed. "She gave me something to give to you. Would you like to see it?"

Noitora looked over at her with an expectant glare, but when she didn't respond, he just simply handed the bag over to her. With one hand, Orihime took the bag and immediately noted how heavy it was. Finally taking her eyes off of Noitora, she looked in the bag. Almost as soon as she had opened the bag, she dropped it and dry heaved. As she dropped the bag, her "present" rolled onto the ground…Tatsuki's severed head.

"It was pathetic how easily she went down, so I decided to have a little fun with her." Noitora noted nonchalantly. "Her tits weren't as big as yours, but she still had a nice body."

"What have you done, you monster?!" Orihime yelled as she cried.

"Well, after I had my fun and I killed her, I figured it would be cruel of me to not allow you even a glimpse of her face, so I just brought the whole face along with me. I figured you'd be happy." Noitora said as he crossed his arms. Orihime only ran to her bathroom and threw up, as she tried to erase the image of her best friend's decapitated head.

----------

Break you…

-----------

He amused himself by watching her cry for a little while, before he sensed another humongous reiatsu approaching the room fast. At first, Noitora thought that it could only be Aizen, but when he had thought about it, he knew it wasn't him. But if it weren't Aizen, then who was it? Perhaps it was that Ichigo that he had heard so much about? With a grin, he thought to himself on how much he could torment his pet if he brought her Ichigo's head as well.

"Oh…it seems as though someone came to visit you." Noitora told his pet. "However, we don't want any solicitors, do we?"

It took Orihime a moment, but she was able to detect Ichigo's reiatsu as well. She ran in front of her door and held her hands out in a feeble attempt to stop him, but Noitora only glanced at her for a couple of seconds before violently pushing her onto the floor. Noitora pulled the door open and stepped into the hall. Several feet ahead, Grimmjow had already confronted Ichigo.

"Finally I can get my revenge for what you fucking did to me!" Grimmjow exclaimed.

"You again?" Ichigo responded. "As much as you piss me off, I'm not after you today. I'm after the bastard that killed both Tatsuki and Chad! So either get the hell out of the way, otherwise I'll make sure this battle ends real quickly!"

"Quickly, my ass." Grimmjow remarked. "If this battles ends quickly, it'll be because of me!"

"Move aside, Grimmjow." Noitora called out from the shadows of the hallway. "If the boy wishes to fight me, it's his own damned fault that he has a death wish."

"I don't think so, fucker!" Grimmjow yelled, without turning to look at Noitora behind him. "This is MY fight!"

Noitora disregarded his words and sped past Grimmjow to attempt a blow on Ichigo with his massive zanpakuto. Ichigo, however, dodged it and glared at his opponent.

"So you're the bastard who killed my friends…" Ichigo said.

"Not only that, but your woman…she's mine now." Noitora taunted.

"My woman?" Ichigo asked. "If you're referring to Orihime, she's not anybody's possession to claim. Now where the hell is she?"

"She's waiting for me in her room, like the good little pet she is." Noitora said, and then swung his double bladed scythe, which Ichigo dodged again. Orihime heard the commotion out the door and ran out.

"Ichigo, don't worry about me! Just get out of here, before you get killed!" Orihime screamed.

"Inoue?" Ichigo asked, as he looked around to where her voice was coming from. But just as he spotted her face, he could only see her eyes grow wide and her mouth hang open. Shortly afterwards, he felt a sharp pain hit him in the chest. His vision then blurred as his top half was completely cut clean from the rest of his body.

"No!" Orihime howled as she tried to run toward Ichigo, but Noitora threw her against a wall, which knocked her out. With the girl out of the way, Noitora lowered his arm and blasted Ichigo away with a single cero shot.

"You fuckin' asshole!" Grimmjow yelled. "First you dare to touch MY woman, and now you fuckin' kill the guy I swore to kill? If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to kill you! And it'll be in the time you least expect it too!"

"You talk big, but you never live up to your word." Noitora remarked.

"He has a point, Grimmjow." Aizen said as he walked into the scene. "But your plans of revenge will have to wait, as I wish to speak to Noitora. But I'm sure you can find the patience to hold on."

Noitora only grinned at Grimmjow's scowling face as he went to join Aizen for a personal meeting in the usual meeting spot. When the two were out of earshot, Grimmjow swore loudly over his ambition of killing Ichigo being ruined. However, as he looked over at the wall, he quickly formed a plan. It was a plan that would make damned sure that his revenge on Noitora would be successful. And if he were really successful, he'd damage his pride as well.

----------

Lose me…

Hate me…

----------

When Orihime woke up, the first thing she saw was Grimmjow's concentrated expression looking down at her. She knew it was a bad day when she was actually relieved that it wasn't Noitora. Picking herself up, she gave Grimmjow a quick glance before she started to head toward her room.

"Wait…I've got a deal for you." Grimmjow said to her.

"I don't want to hear it…I've already lost enough." Orihime muttered as she continued to walk toward her room. Finally, Grimmjow grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop.

"Do you want revenge?" Grimmjow said in a low voice as he brought his lips close to her ear. "I'll make sure that fucker gets killed in the most humiliating way possible. Also…I can get you out of here."

"You'll only die like Ulquiorra did." Orihime stated, trying to pull away.

"Unlike Ulquiorra, I've had a thing against Aizen for a very long time. There's no way I'll let that asshole kill me. I've been here long enough to know everything that he would pull, so I know how to get the fuck out of here without getting his attention." Grimmjow explained. "Besides, either way, that fuckin' asshole Noitora will die, if that makes you feel any better."

Normally, the thought of anyone dying brought Orihime to tears, but after all the torment Noitora had put her through, the thought of watching him die didn't even make her feel depressed.

"What's the catch?" Orihime asked with an emotionless expression.

"After we get out of here…you'll be my woman." Grimmjow said. "You will not belong to Noitora, Aizen, or any of the fuckers around here. The only friend of yours that I had a problem with was Ichigo, and we both know what happened with him. So you have my word that I won't lay a finger on any of your other friends, unless they fuck with me first. But in exchange, you will be my girl."

Orihime had to think about it. She didn't like the idea of being anyone's girl in this place, but she knew that anything had to be better than to be Noitora's "pet". Even if Grimmjow didn't make it out alive, Orihime could be comforted by the fact that somehow she had gotten vengeance for the death of the two people dearest to her. She couldn't believe that she was going to sink down to the level she was headed down, but she had no other choice.

"Okay, I'll do whatever you want, as long as you get rid of him." Orihime responded. Grimmjow grinned deviously. And brought his head close to her ear again.

"That, I can make damned sure happens…but I'll need your help." Grimmjow whispered into her ear.

"Just tell me…I'll do anything to get rid of him." Orihime whispered. Grimmjow looked both ways for a moment before he brought his lips only millimeters from her ears and whispered his plan to her.

----------

Smash me…

Erase me…

----------

The meeting with Aizen was not a pleasant one. Apparently, Aizen had planned to use Ichigo to force his pet into doing whatever the hell he wanted to do with her. Because of Noitora's careless actions, Aizen decided to demote Noitora from the ranks of Espada and to also remove the position of Orihime's caretaker away from him. This did not please Noitora in the least. Aizen had dismissed Noitora from the room and left himself, but Noitora would be damned if he wouldn't get some sort of revenge.

The opportunity presented itself when Noitora found that Aizen had left his coat behind. A few days ago, when he had planned with Aizen on how to dispose of Ulquiorra, Aizen had told him that he had shown both Orihime and Ulquiorra a fake Hougyoku, in order to trick them both if they tried to ruin his plan somehow and that he would keep the real one in his coat. With a grin, Noitora dug through the coat until he felt an orb in his hand. Pulling it out, he gave it a good glance. He didn't know what Aizen planned to do with it, but no matter what it was, he'd get his pet to reactivate it for him and then use the power to his own desires. Tucking the orb into his pocket, he strolled down to Orihime's room.

Once he opened the door, he ignored the hateful glare that Orihime gave him and dug the Hougyoku out of his pocket. Holding it up, he showed it to her.

"See this?" Noitora asked. "I need you to activate it for me…I stole it from Aizen, because he doesn't deserve whatever power is in this thing."

"No." Orihime simply responded. Narrowing his eyes, Noitora slapped Orihime across the face again. This time, however, she did not flinch.

"I'm getting really fucking sick of your attitude, pet-sama." Noitora growled. "I'm going to teach you why you should never defy me, you little bitch!"

Swiftly, Noitora reached a hand in front of him and completely ripped the top of her uniform by hand. He then pushed her down on her bed and lowered his face to look at her exposed flesh. Before he could get a good look though, however, the vision in one of his eyes went out, followed by an extreme pain. Instantly, Noitora shot his hand up to his effected eye and felt a dagger sticking out of it. He looked down at his pet with his one good eye and only saw his blood all over her chest, while she looked at him with intense hatred.

"You. Fucking. BITCH!" Noitora screamed. However, in his anguish, he did not notice Grimmjow appear behind him. With a swipe of his sword, Grimmjow cut the area behind Noitora's knees, causing him to fall down backwards. After Noitora had landed on the floor, Grimmjow took his zanpakuto and stabbed it directly in the center of Noitora's groin. As Noitora howled in pain, Grimmjow could only laugh at his misfortune. Silently, Orihime enjoyed every minute of watching that vile man squirm, but her face didn't show anything put pure hatred. Finally, after the screaming died down, Grimmjow held his sword down at Noitora.

----------

Kill me.

----------

"This is what I call living up to my word…you fuckin' prick." Grimmjow simply muttered before slicing his head in half, in a vertical fashion. After Grimmjow had sheathed his sword, he looked over at Orihime, who was still completely lacking a top. After a minute, Grimmjow took off his ragged white jacket and threw it over to her. It wasn't like he was going to be needing it anyways.

"Should we get out of this hell hole?" Grimmjow asked.

"First…I need to take care of that." Orihime stated, picking up the Hougyoku from the ground. With a set of commands, Orihime made the orb instantly vanish in her hand. "Now that this will never exist…my job here is done…we can go."

"In that case, I'd step back, if I were you." Grimmjow warned as he put a hand out. Orihime heeded his warning and ran behind him. Using a cero blast, Grimmjow created a hole in Orihime's room. Picking her up, and setting her on his back, Grimmjow ran out of the room and into the deserts of Hueco Mundo without looking back.

Not long after they had left, the Espada female came into Orihime's room and briefly caught the gaze of Orihime, before she looked down at the corpse of Noitora. She bent down and felt for any signs of life before getting back up again.

"Noitora…you damned fool." She simply muttered as she vaporized the rest of his body with a cero blast. She watched as the dust flew away with the slight breeze before turning around and exiting the room.

----------

Unknown to anyone else in existence at that moment though was that because Orihime had caused the Hougyoku to never exist, he now obtained its powers inside his very body. Thanks to that girl, he now had the power to become a god, he had the power to choose who would live and who would die. But most importantly, he had the power to create a new world in which he found suitable…and that girl, Orihime was not part of that world. After all, there only needed to be one god for his world to exist. She could run away now…but it would only make the chase so much more exciting.

----------

Author's Notes

First thing's first…I feel AWFUL for putting my most favorite anime character of ANYTHING through what I just did. I'm a horrible person, but I think I just managed to write the darkest piece of literature that has come out of me EVER. And that's saying something, when my stories tend to be on the angsty side. . 

The song lyrics featured in this chapter was "Eraser" by Nine Inch Nails, as that's one hell of an aggressive song with one hell of a build up.

I'm sure you can guess the pairing in the next chapter and if you can't…well…I don't know what to tell you. XD

As always though, I enjoy any constructive criticism, so let me have it! :D


	3. Home

----------

The Downward Spiral

Chapter Three: Home

Grimmjow/Orihime

By Renegade Raine

----------

----------

Everything is catching up with me

I awake to find I'm not at all where I should be

And it feels I'm getting to the end…

----------

Grimmjow had lost track of how long they had been running now. He was an arrancar, so his stamina lasted a lot longer than a normal human's did, but even he was starting to get tired, and that pissed him off. However, all they could do was run, because he was sure that the place they needed to get to was still a good distance away. And whatever happened, they had to get there before that asshole Aizen did.

He looked behind him, only to see Orihime struggling to keep up with him. He was a little irritated that she was falling behind him, but since she had insisted on healing everyone she had come across, he could understand why her energy was so slow. Grimmjow continued at his pace for a while, before the pathetic pants from behind him finally got to be too much for him. He stopped for a second, waiting for Orihime to catch up to him. When she finally did, he placed his arms under her body and carried her in his arms as he continued to run.

"If you're gonna take all fuckin' day, I might as well carry you!" Grimmjow grumbled as he moved forward. Startled at first, Orihime got used to the feeling of being carried and placed her arms around his neck. After a few minutes of silence, Orihime looked up at Grimmjow's concentrated face.

"Grimmjow?" Orihime asked.

"What?" Grimmjow said with the slightest hint of annoyance.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Orihime inquired. Grimmjow continued to look forward as he ran, but looked down at her for a brief moment as he responded.

"Does it matter?" Grimmjow answered simply and turned his head forward to concentrate on his passage through the rooms of the temple that they were running through. Orihime looked down at the ground. It was just like him to not answer the questions she had wanted to know the answers to the most. Despite that though, in her time with him, she came to realize that he wasn't anywhere near as bad than she originally thought. Looking back up at Grimmjow's eyes lined in black and blue, she sighed.

"No, I guess not." Orihime responded. Cerulean eyes met her grey ones for a moment, before she witnessed his pupils suddenly grow smaller. It was then when it hit her as well…the all too familiar god-like reiatsu…the one that she had help create. Grimmjow finally stopped and set Orihime down on her feet. Grimmjow only stood silently with his back to Orihime for a moment. Orihime found his behavior peculiar, so she tried to walk toward him, but the sound of his maniac laughter soon echoed through the large, vast room they stood in. Terrified by Grimmjow's sudden change of character, Orihime walked back a few steps. Finally, Grimmjow turned around with a delirious grin and held his hand out in a way that Orihime was all too familiar with.

"This is the end…" Grimmjow said wide-eyed as Orihime stared at him in shock.

----------

And it's hard to figure out what's real and what's pretend…

----------

-----

One month before…

-----

He had told that fucking android Ulquiorra to stay away from his woman, and when he didn't, he died. Then when Noitora took it a step further and tried to claim the woman as his own, not to mention killing the guy Grimmjow himself had sworn to kill…well…he got a sword through his balls before Grimmjow had killed him. But now, now only was Grimmjow free from the command of that dick, Aizen, but he finally also had the woman that he had set his sights on ever since she had healed his arm. He figured that if she could heal his arm, who else knew what the hell else she could do? He'd be damned before he would sit back and let Aizen keep that power for himself. Now that he had her, he'd be able to accomplish anything he damned well please.

However, he first had to get the hell out of the shit hole of a place called Hueco Mundo. He had been running away from Aizen's base with Orihime on his back for a while now, until he suddenly stopped and moved his hand a little. Orihime snapped out of her daze and gave Grimmjow a curious look.

"What are you doing?" Orihime asked.

"If we stay here, Aizen's gonna skull fuck us both." Grimmjow explained. "We need to go to the human world and lay low for a while."

"But my friends are still looking for me!" Orihime exclaimed. "We can't leave them here!"

"I thought we agreed." Grimmjow said, finally turning his head to look at Orihime with a slightly pissed off look. "You're my woman now. Besides, if any of your 'friends' are any good, they'll survive."

Before Orihime could protest any further, Grimmjow had fully opened a portal and stepped through. Defeated, Orihime only sighed as she worried for the sake of those close to her who were still alive. However, she was a little curious to see how everyone was doing in her own world, so despite the trauma she had faced earlier with Noitora, she tried to keep her thoughts positive. As Grimmjow passed through the gate with Orihime though, both instantly knew that something wasn't right. Somehow the world seemed…empty.

-----------

To break from what we're tied to…

God knows how much I've tried to…

----------

Grimmjow set Orihime down on her feet as he took a few steps into the empty road. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate, he could not sense any reiatsu forms, aside from his and Orihime's. Orihime too looked around in wonder, although she was far more disturbed by the lack of reiatsu in the world than Grimmjow was.

"Everyone here…is dead?" Orihime asked. Grimmjow didn't respond, but a few seconds later, Orihime saw a child's lifeless form lying on the ground. Without a second thought, Orihime ran toward the body in an attempt to use her powers to bring him back to life. Before she could reach the corpse though, two familiar looking females intercepted her. One with pigtails and the other that eerily looked like what would happen if Grimmjow got in touch with his feminine side…even if the very idea disturbed Orihime to no end. Upon seeing Orihime being confronted, Grimmjow took out his zanpakuto and rushed toward the two arrancar females.

"As you might have seen, with his new powers, Aizen has already wiped out this entire town." Menoly said. "And now, Aizen has dispatched the both of us to rid of you two as well, since you have both served your purpose."

"Served my purpose…?" Orihime wondered out loud. "But didn't I destroy the Hougyoku?"

"You stupid twat!" Lolly exclaimed. "Since you never made that thing exist in the first place, Aizen inherited all of its power! Thanks to you, Aizen will create a world in only which us arrancar will reside in!"

"No…" Orihime muttered as she fell to her knees. "And I suppose he's killed all of my friends by now as well…"

"Pfft, probably." Lolly said with a shrug. "Doesn't matter though, since you're about to die anyways. Let's go, Menoly! Let's finish this so we can go back to Aizen-sama!"

Menoly did not reply, but she still unsheathed her sword and ran toward Grimmjow. Lolly mirrored her actions as Grimmjow snorted and gave an apathetic look. As the two approached him, Grimmjow finally made his move as he blocked both of the girls' attacks with his sword. Lolly broke away and sped toward Orihime, who was still on her knees in the street. If Aizen had killed everyone in town, then it must have meant that he had killed Chizuru, Keigo, Hirako, Hiyori, and the rest of Ichigo's family too. Orihime knew that Lolly was going toward her, but at this point, she didn't care if she died or not. Before Lolly could strike though, Grimmjow slashed through her from behind. After Lolly fell to the ground in a wide-eyed stupor, Grimmjow briefly gave Orihime an agitated look.

"What the fuck are you doin', woman?" Grimmjow yelled at her. "Protect yourself for fuck's sake!"

"It doesn't matter now if I live or die." Orihime muttered. Grimmjow gave her a slightly incredulous look, which left him open for an attack from Menoly. Pissed off at being hit, Grimmjow momentarily took his attention off of Orihime to mercilessly slaughter Menoly, successfully chopping her to bits with his zanpakuto. Grimmjow stood for a moment just staring at the mangled bits of Menoly on the ground before he turned to see Orihime making her way toward the dead child.

"Even if you are my woman, I don't wanna start a family." Grimmjow said to her, but Orihime didn't seem to pay him any attention. "Listen, if you bring that brat back to life, he's only gonna bitch about his real mom not being around."

Even if what Grimmjow said was rather insensitive, Orihime realized that he was right. It would be cruel to bring the child back to life if she didn't first find his family and bring every member back to life. Knowing that she was helpless to the situation in her town, Orihime stood up, leaned against a nearby building, and cried. She was so caught up in her misery that she didn't even notice the rain pouring down on her.

"Hey, missy." Grimmjow called out to her. "That bitch fucked up my shoulder while I was tryin' to make sure she didn't kill you. I think ya owe it to me to heal it."

Orihime didn't seem to hear him as she continued to mope by the building. The bitch was too wrapped up in herself. Rolling her eyes and giving an agitated groan, there was only one thing Grimmjow could do as he walked toward her.

----------

And I am still inside you…

----------

When Grimmjow had reached the point where Orihime was standing at, he used the arm, which still had blood trickling down it from the blow to his shoulder, to slam against the wall inches from Orihime's head. When she still didn't look up at him, he used his other hand to forcibly lift up Orihime's rain-moistened chin. Quickly, Grimmjow lowered his head, letting a few drops of rain from his hair drop onto her forehead before hovering his lips over hers. He captured her lips with his own as he tightly gripped her chin, so she could not move her face away. Orihime finally snapped out of her miserable daze and gasped out of surprise. The gasp didn't help her any, as Grimmjow took the opportunity to slip his tongue in her mouth, using it to explore everywhere within. Unlike Noitora though, he didn't nearly choke her by trying to slam his tongue down her throat.

After a moment, Orihime used her arms to slightly turn Grimmjow's face as the side of his face with the mask started to irritate her face. Finally pulling away, Grimmjow raised an eyebrow with a slightly annoyed expression.

"Now that I got your attention, could ya fix my fuckin' shoulder?" Grimmjow said with a mildly exasperated voice.

"Yeah…" Orihime said in a flustered voice. "But can we go back to my house first?"

"Yeah, fine." Grimmjow said with a grunt. "Lead the way."

Slowly, Orihime walked in the rain, while trying to keep herself warm in the ragged jacket that had been given to her. Grimmjow followed behind her as she made her way through the abandoned streets to her house. When they finally arrived at Orihime's house, Orihime went into her living room and sat on her couch. Grimmjow looked around at the simple house before he finally went by the couch and knelt down. Touching her hairpins, Orihime summoned her Shun Shun Rikka. Grimmjow noticed the tiny creatures pop out of nowhere and blinked to make sure he was seeing what he just thought he had witnessed.

"Soten Kisshun…I reject!" she exclaimed as Ayame and Shun'o rushed to heal Grimmjow's shoulder. Grimmjow narrowed his eyebrows out of confusion and when the healing process was done, Orihime noticed his expression.

"What's wrong?" She asked, fearing that Grimmjow detected someone else coming to try to kill them.

"Did…" Grimmjow started. "…a fucking fairy just heal my arm?!"

"Hey asshole, we're not fairies!" Tsubaki exclaimed as he flew in front of Grimmjow's face. Looking down at Tsubaki, Grimmjow narrowed his eyes.

"Pfft, you look like a fucking fairy to me." Grimmjow muttered. This angered Tsubaki, which brought the two into a heated argument. At first, Orihime was worried for Tsubaki's sake, but as she watched both Tsubaki and Grimmjow argue with each other, she couldn't help but giggle at the ridiculousness of the situation in front of her. She immediately stopped though as both gave her a death glare.

"Jackass." Tsubaki muttered at the arrancar.

"Fuckin' fairy." Grimmjow countered. Orihime then summoned the Shun Shun Rikka back into her hairpins, as she was truly afraid that Grimmjow would destroy everything in her house if he interacted with Tsubaki any longer. She then turned to go to her bathroom.

"Is it alright if I take a shower?" Orihime asked. Grimmjow looked at Orihime, who still had a little blood on her chest from Noitora's blood, despite the rain washing most of it off.

"Go ahead." Grimmjow responded as he laid back on her couch. Orihime nodded her head before running to her room to get some actual clothes and going into the bathroom to clean herself off. Grimmjow entertained the idea of going in and ravishing her in the shower briefly, but as he laid back on the couch, he dismissed that idea, as he didn't have the energy to do it at the moment. Not to mention that fucking fairy had totally ruined his mood.

----------

And I am still inside you…

----------

After Orihime had taken her shower, she had gone into the kitchen to fix something that looked so unappetizing that even if Grimmjow had to eat, he doubted he would even look at it a second time if it were presented to him. After she had finished eating, she had stated that she would go to bed. Grimmjow shrugged, as he never felt the need to sleep. As he wandered around the house bored though, he heard a noise coming from her room. He paused for a second, before figuring out that she was crying. Fucking hell, she was STILL crying over her loss? Giving a frustrated groan, he kicked Orihime's door open, and sure as hell, she had her head buried in her pillow in a pathetic attempt to suppress her sobs. Giving a slight hiss, Grimmjow bent down and turned her face toward his. Orihime opened her mouth, but before she could ask what he was doing, Grimmjow slid his tongue past her lips and massaged the whole inside of her mouth. After a short while, Grimmjow tilted his head to the side to deepen the kiss.

After a few minutes, Grimmjow pulled his head back to travel down to her neck. He bit hard near her collarbone and ignored her yelp of pain. His teeth caused a tiny bit of blood to come from the mark, it didn't matter though as he ran his tongue across the wound. Orihime then tried to move his head with her hands, but Grimmjow pinned both hands down with one of his own. A short amount of time later, Grimmjow had removed (or in the case of Orihime's clothes, tore) the clothing off of both of their bodies and he claimed what was so rightfully his. She cried out in pain, but Grimmjow figured it was better than crying about the jackasses she called friends. He just merely swallowed her cries in his mouth until they were no more.

Although Orihime was caught up in what Grimmjow was doing to her body during most of the act, she looked up at one point, only to see his eyes burn into hers, causing the already present blush on her face to intensify in color. It was not long until before Orihime was crying yet again. However, instead for her friends, she cried for Grimmjow. Satisfied by her reaction, Grimmjow pounded harder, causing her to grip the edge of the hole in his abdomen with one hand and dug her nails in his back with the other. He didn't pay attention to the stinging sensation on his back as his sweat-covered body continued his synchronized movements with hers. The room was already filled with Orihime's moans of pleasure, so when Grimmjow growled lowly, it was barely audible.

When Grimmjow finished her off, only a few minutes later, he simply pulled away from her, and leaned his head down to Orihime's ear.

"Never forget that yer mine." Grimmjow said in a low voice. "Every time I hear you cry for the dead, I'll make you cry for me. Ye understand?"

Orihime only nodded in response, not wanting to find out what Grimmjow would do if she showed the least bit of resistance. Grimmjow grunted a little and gathered his clothes before he looked at her again.

"We're leaving in the morning, so get some sleep." Grimmjow told her. "I don't wanna hafta carry ya all the way."

"Where are we going?" Orihime asked.

"I don't know." Grimmjow replied as he tied the sash around his hakama. "But if we stay here, he's gonna find us."

Before she could ask any other question, Grimmjow left the room to go outside of the house to stare at the moon. Orihime, in the meantime wondered if she was really better off with Grimmjow than she was at Hueco Mundo. He had just pretty much raped her…but then she didn't exactly try to fend him off either, so she wasn't really sure what to think. However, she was exhausted from the events that had just taken place and fell into a deep sleep soon after Grimmjow had left her room. It would be the last time she ever slept in her own bed.

----------

I escape every now and then.

And to think…

I'd find myself back here again…and again.

----------

The next morning, Orihime awoke to find Grimmjow waiting impatiently for her in the living room.

"It's about damned time." Grimmjow muttered as she made her way into the room. "Let's get movin'."

"But aren't we going to be found no matter where we go?" Orihime asked. "It seems like we're the only people who are still alive."

"Nah, even that prick Aizen hasn't killed everyone yet. I don't know what the hell I sensed, but I sensed last night that something's still alive. The least we can do is find out what the fuck it is and hide our reiatsu amongst it when we do."

"But what if it's more arrancar?" Orihime asked. Grimmjow looked at her and gave a slight shrug.

"Then I'll kill em' all." Grimmjow replied. Before giving Orihime the chance to point out that he probably couldn't beat all the arrancar by himself, he walked to the outside of the house. Orihime followed him to find that he was already walking down the street.

"Wouldn't it be faster if we drove a car?" Orihime asked.

"Do you know how to drive one?" Grimmjow replied, not bothering to turn around.

"No…" Orihime said.

"Then we're walking." Grimmjow said bluntly as he trailed ahead of Orihime. She only sighed a little before jogging a short distance to catch up with him. For days upon end, the two walked a long distance, only stopping when Orihime's feet could no longer move and when even Grimmjow's body was too fatigued to carry her. Despite Orihime's protests, Grimmjow made a point of camping out at the most expensive-looking houses. She didn't like having to do it, but she changed her clothes at every house, as she didn't want to wear the same, stinky and sweaty clothes every day. Every night when she went to bed though, she would forget about Grimmjow's warning and would cry for her friends when she thought she was alone. However, he heard her every time and would fuck the misery out of her. At first, she hated herself for not resisting him, but after a couple of weeks, she came to embrace their encounters that would allow her to forget her pain, even if just for a little bit.

Then every morning after Orihime would awake and eat something, they'd continue their journey toward the reiatsu source Grimmjow sensed from afar. At first, Orihime didn't like traveling with him, as he seemingly got annoyed by anything she would say to him, but after a while, she found comfort in his presence, because in a weird way, he sort of reminded her of Kurosaki-kun with the pissed off expression he always seemed to convey. Granted, Ichigo had morals and his hair color was the exact opposite color of Grimmjow's (a fact that she had learned from her art class in high school so long ago), but nobody was perfect…right?

Every once in a while, they'd run into an arrancar or two, but for some reason, it was always the weaker ones. With Orihime's assistance, Grimmjow would easily demolish their opponents with minor to zero injuries. When she did have to heal him though, she made sure that Tsubaki didn't come out, as Grimmjow seemingly got the most pissed when he had to deal with him.

In a strange way, Orihime kind of liked being on the journey with Grimmjow, as it reminded her of all the epic quests from her very favorite movies, even if the very thought of Grimmjow wearing a lion suit while she wore shiny ruby slippers was a terrifying thought for even her. Sometimes if Grimmjow was in a good mood (or as about of a good mood as he could get into), he'd wait for her in the street as she excitedly went through all the stores in the area. Even if the journey was a fun one for her though, she often wondered how long the two of them would be running. She felt useless to the dire situation at hand. She had since gotten used to seeing the corpses of people in the streets, but a wave of sadness still passed through her every time she passed through a new town. All she could do though was hope for the best, and hope that at least some of her friends were still alive.

----------

I used to know who I was until you came along.

I return to the only place I've ever felt that I belonged.

----------

Every day, he could feel the two of them getting closer and closer to the reiatsu he had sensed from his woman's house. He lost track of how long the two had been walking, but he knew it had been too damned long. During their pilgrimage, Grimmjow had started to regret going in the first place, as even with the few arrancar attacks he had run across, he got really fucking bored walking all day. So it was no wonder that when the night came around, and she cried like she always did, he would enter her room and screw her senseless. Sometimes he would simply take what he wanted and he would leave. Other nights, he would over load her body with pleasure as he would twist their bodies in countless positions.

When she fell asleep immediately afterwards (and she always did), he would go outside and wander out in the streets. The thought of running off on his own constantly crossed his mind, as what he always wanted was complete freedom. He never strayed too far from whatever house they were staying at though, and he wasn't quite sure why. One night, he had come to the conclusion that he wasn't going to get laid if he abandoned her, and stuck by that reason.

Every time they passed through a new country, Orihime would try his patience as she blabbered about facts of the country she had learned through studying mixed in with tidbits of her own imagination. He usually ignored her, although he had grown accustomed to the noise of her voice filling the silence around them.

About three weeks later, the day finally came when even Orihime could sense the reiatsu forms that Grimmjow had sensed so long ago. As they approached a town in France, Grimmjow turned around to Orihime.

"The reiatsu forms are hiding in this town somewhere. They might be humans and they might be fuckin' Espada. But no matter what, don't get yerself kidnapped."

"I know." Orihime said with a nod and continued to walk cautiously down the fog-covered street with Grimmjow. All seemed fine at first with their first few steps, but with their next couple of steps, both of them felt an immensely powerful reiatsu in front of them. Both stopped, as they tried to figure out what to do. They didn't have to speculate too much, as the silhouette started to form amongst the fog in the street. Orihime took a few steps back as Grimmjow gripped his zanpakuto.

The fog started to clear as the figure slowly walked closer and closer to the two nomads in the street. Although Orihime had retreated behind Grimmjow, she still kept her gaze focused on the figure and gasped a little as she realized who it was.

"I'm sorry," a familiar, feminine voice droned, as she grabbed the large sword behind her back. "But I cannot let you two go any further."

----------

To break from what we're tied to…

----------

"Heh, it's about damned time I had a challenge!" Grimmjow said with a manic grin. "Ye better not disappoint me, other wise that fuckin' prick, Aizen is even more of an idiot than I thought if he ranks you above me!"

"You picked a bad time to betray Aizen-sama." The female Espada simply noted as she readied her zanpakuto. "He's only a few steps away from eliminating the rest of the humans, along with the Soul Society and create a world in which only us perfect beings, the arrancar, exist."

"Tch. Like I'd wanna live with you dumbasses the rest of my life." Grimmjow said with an eye roll.

"It has unfortunately gotten to the point where Aizen-sama has ordered me to kill the both of you." She informed him as her eyes narrowed. "And I intend to carry out his orders."

In a flash, she struck Grimmjow in a speed so blindingly fast, that Grimmjow only moved fast enough to get struck on the side of his chest. If he hadn't moved at all, there was no doubt that it would have gone straight through his heart. He sneered at the pain first, but his mouth quickly turned into a wide grin as he laughed loudly.

"So you DID deserve your rank after all!" he exclaimed. "Ain't that some exciting shit!"

The female espada didn't seem affected by Grimmjow's crude words as she continued her assault on Grimmjow. However, he was now able to block her attacks. He put in a few attacks of his own, but she managed to block them all. The battle raged on, as the two fought each other with such speed, that even Orihime had trouble watching them with her eyes. Debris flew and windows shattered from the buildings they fought by as the two continued their assaults on each other. Although the match was mostly even, it appeared that the woman had the upper hand, as Grimmjow's body sported a few minor cuts, and she only had two scratches on her exposed abdomen.

As time passed by, Grimmjow grew weaker as he endured more damage by the Espada. Finally, the woman managed to knock Grimmjow on the ground and she slowly walked toward him. Fearing for his life, Orihime rushed and formed a shield in front of him just before the Espada was able to land the fatal blow to him. In response, the Espada tilted her head, before she turned to look at Orihime.

"Just between you and I…I didn't want it to have to come to this." the Espada spoke. "However, I must kill you as well."

Knowing that Grimmjow wouldn't be able to threaten her much in the state he was in, the Espada ran toward Orihime with her zanpakuto. A few seconds before she could strike though, she sensed two more reiatsu forms enter the scene.

"Bankai!" one masculine voice called out. "Hihio Zabimaru!"

"First dance, white moon!" another, more feminine voice cried out. Orihime turned her head and let her face fill with shock as she saw the forms of Renji and Rukia enter the scene. Rukia's command had effectively frozen the Espada in place, which allowed Renji's attack to hit her directly. Although it left a good wound on her, the Espada quickly recovered as she sized up her opposition.

"So there are still a few of you left," she noted. "However, Aizen-sama told me to eliminate all opposition, so I am afraid that this will be your demise."

With that, the battle began with the two new challengers. Even if the match was handicapped though, the Espada still managed to hold her on in the fight. Even if Orihime was concerned for the well-being of Renji and Rukia, she made her way to the injured Grimmjow and healed his wounds. She knew that if she just left him to die, then she could be free from the unwritten contract of being his "woman". However, with all that he had done for her, she felt obligated to at least heal him. Grimmjow looked a bit confused as well, but pushed it to the back of his mind as his injuries were quickly healed. Without hesitating even one moment, he rushed off to the scene of the fight before Orihime could protest.

The Espada was too concentrated in her fight with the two Shinigami, so she didn't notice that Grimmjow struck her in the back until the deed was already done. The Espada's eyes went wide in a mixture of pain and shock before she sunk to the ground. Witnessing the scene, Renji and Rukia did not ease their posture as they laid their eyes on the notorious Sexta Espada. Before either of their attacks could hit him though, Orihime formed yet another shield in front of him. The stupor on both of the shinigamis face was very apparent as their minds tried to analyze their situation.

"Wh…what the hell?" Renji stuttered.

"Orihime, what are you doing?" Rukia exclaimed. "Please don't tell me that you're on Aizen's side too!"

"Of course I'm not!' Orihime explained. "But if it wasn't for Grimmjow, then I probably wouldn't still be alive."

Both Rukia and Renji kept the incredulous look on their faces as they kept their zanpakutos aimed at Grimmjow, who grinned smugly.

"The girl's right." Grimmjow added. "She's my woman after all, and like hell I'm gonna let Aizen or any of those other stupid fuckers have her."

Renji and Rukia now looked dumbfounded as their gaze went from the wide grin of Grimmjow to the form of Orihime behind him.

"Orihime…" Rukia said in a sympathetic tone. "…is this true?"

Orihime only blushed and looked to the side out of embarrassment from the response. But as she looked to the side, she saw the Espada on the street, as she appeared to be grasping onto the last threads of her life. Feeling suddenly sympathetic, she walked and kneeled by her body. After a couple of moments of thought, she started to reach for her hair pins to heal the woman.

"Don't." the espada said as she turned her head. "I'd rather die following my orders to the very end than to be healed by the enemy."

Orihime stared down at her before breathing a sigh and putting her hands back down on her knees. Orihime then had a flashback as she remembered seeing the Espada lean over Noitora's body before she had escaped with Grimmjow.

"Do you hate me?" Orihime asked, causing the Espada to give her a somewhat puzzled look.

"Why would I hate you?"

"Noitora…" Orihime said. "…you loved him…didn't you?"

The Espada blinked once before chuckling a little. Her laughter didn't last long though, as she coughed up some blood.

"Things such as 'love' are meaningless to us arrancar. Besides, that man was a fool and deserved his death." the Espada replied coldly.

"What if you were both human and you didn't feel obligated to serve Aizen?" Orihime asked. "Would you have loved him then?"

"I don't know." she replied after a long pause and turned her head to the side to cough up more blood. "My time here is almost at an end though, so in exchange for everything you've had to go through, I'll give you a hint if you want to defeat Aizen. There is a portal that only you can access if you wish for it. It will take you to a place called the Temple of Eternity, in which powerful beings such as yourself can claim the powers of God himself. What Aizen plans to do is kill God with his newfound powers and become God himself. So if you wish to save your kind from extinction…you must stop him before he can summon God."

"I see…I understand." Orihime said as she soaked the information in.

"One last thing…" the Espada said. "If you are too late…the only thing you can do is give the greatest sacrifice of all."

"The greatest sacrifice?" Orihime asked. "And what's that?"

After she had asked the question though, she noticed that the reiatsu radiating from the Espada was now gone. Orihime gave a brief mourning glance before she stood up and turned toward Renji, Rukia, and Grimmjow who overheard their conversation.

"We must stop him." Orihime said. "Otherwise we will all die. And the deaths of Sado-kun, Tatsuki-chan, Kurosaki-kun, and anyone else who has died for my sake will have been for nothing. And even in their death, I can't betray them."

Renji slightly smiled as Rukia looked moved by her speech. Grimmjow, however, didn't look affected at all as he shrugged.

"As if I'd let that asshole become God while I'm still alive." Grimmjow said with a sneer. "Let's get movin' and kick his ass."

"Yes…we should go as soon as possible." Orihime nodded and turned to Rukia. "I'm just curious…did Aizen kill everybody?"

"Unfortunately, he did kill a lot of people." Rukia responded. "Although with the woman down, the Espada is now terminated, with the exception of Grimmjow, we have lost far more in this battle. However, a few managed to survive. The only people you know though are Yoruichi, Urahara, Yuzu, Karin, and to my surprise, Keigo. As for us in the Soul Society, the number is a little greater, but our numbers are dwindling as well."

"That's good to hear that a few people are still alive, at least. How about Rangiku-chan, is she still alive?" Orihime asked, as she considered her one of her greatest friends.

"She was killed by Aizen after Gin's attempts to save her failed." Rukia reported.

"I see." Orihime said as a sorrowful look passed through her face. "I'll have to avenge her too then."

"And Ishida-kun?" Orihime asked.

"Him we don't know about." Rukia replied. "We haven't seen or heard any reports that he was killed, but no one has seen him for a long time either."

"He must still be alive." Orihime said with a slight smile. "He always was a loner."

"Are we goin' or not?" Grimmjow said impatiently. "You can have your fuckin' reunion or whatever afterwards!"

"Yeah…we're all going, right?" Orihime asked as she looked over at Rukia and Renji. Rukia nodded and smiled slightly at her.

"Of course, Aizen has to be stopped at all costs." Rukia replied. "I'll do anything I can to help you."

"And I'll go wherever Rukia goes." Renji added.

"Thanks guys…" Orihime said before holding her hands to her hair pins and twisted her face in a concentrated expression. Her Shun Shun Rikka soon appeared, awaiting Orihime's instructions. "Uh…I know this is a weird request, even coming from me, but can you guys open the gate to the Temple of Eternity?"

The six fairy-like creatures stared at each other for a moment before they formed in front of Orihime and combined their power to slowly create a portal. All six were so concentrated that even when Grimmjow swore at them for being so slow, not even Tsubaki replied to him. Eventually, after about an hour, the gate was complete and the Shun Shun Rikka disappeared back into Orihime's hair pins. Before the four of them could walk through the portal though, they were confronted by an approaching army of arrancars. Orihime stared in fear, as she was sure that there was no way that they'd be able to take down that many arrancar and live to tell about it. Rukia, however, stepped forward.

"I'm sorry, Inoue, but I'm afraid I have to break the promise I made with you." Rukia stated. "I'll stay and keep them distracted…you three go on without me."

"But Rukia-" Orihime protested, but was cut off by Renji's yelling.

"What are you, stupid?!" Renji screamed at her. "Like hell I'm leaving without you!"

"Renji, I can take care of these guys myself." Rukia deadpanned. "Go on without me."

"Idiot! I just told you that I won't leave without you!" Renji yelled and looked to the side. "I'm never leaving without you again."

Startled, Rukia looked over at Renji, who was still looking off to the side. She breathed a sigh before looking over to Orihime.

"My apologies, but it looks like Renji's staying behind too." Rukia said with a slight smile.

"We'll catch up with ya later." Renji said with a cocky smirk. "There's no way we can lose to these guys!"

"In that case…I'll see you later." Orihime responded, with a wistful look. She didn't like Renji and Rukia's odds in the fight, but she knew that there was nothing she could say to them to change their mind. They were both the most stubborn people she knew. They suited each other.

Orihime gave them one last look before she walked through the portal with Grimmjow close behind. The army of arrancar, in the meantime completely surrounded Renji and Rukia and were closing in on them.

"There's no way we can win this battle…is there?" Rukia commented.

"What are you talking about? Of course we're gonna win!" Renji replied with a goofy grin.

"Don't be stupid." Rukia scolded and Renji sighed.

"In that case, our chances don't look good." Renji said as he watched the army come closer and closer to them. "But I'm glad I can spend my final moments with you."

"I feel the same way." Rukia said as she turned her head from the incoming enemy to give Renji a warm smile. "Let's go out in style."

Both Renji and Rukia drew out their zanpakutos again as they both ran into the horde of arrancars. Neither knew of a better way to leave the world. All they could do now is hope that Orihime could save the last of the human race. Perhaps in their next lives, they'd be born together. And in that life, they would never abandon each other even once.

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God knows how much I tried to…

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Grimmjow had lost track of how long they had been running now. He was an arrancar, so his stamina lasted a lot longer than a normal human's did, but even he was starting to get tired, and that pissed him off. However, all they could do was run, because he was sure that the place they needed to get to was still a good distance away. And whatever happened, they had to get there before that asshole Aizen did.

He looked behind him, only to see Orihime struggling to keep up with him. He was a little irritated that she was falling behind him, but since she had insisted on healing everyone she had come across, he could understand why her energy was so slow. Grimmjow continued at his pace for a while, before the pathetic pants from behind him finally got to be too much for him. He stopped for a second, waiting for Orihime to catch up to him. When she finally did, he placed his arms under her body and carried her in his arms as he continued to run.

"If you're gonna take all fuckin' day, I might as well carry you!" Grimmjow grumbled as he moved forward. Startled at first, Orihime got used to the feeling of being carried and placed her arms around his neck. After a few minutes of silence, Orihime looked up at Grimmjow's concentrated face.

"Grimmjow?" Orihime asked.

"What?" Grimmjow said with the slightest hint of annoyance.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Orihime inquired. Grimmjow continued to look forward as he ran, but looked down at her for a brief moment as he responded.

"Does it matter?" Grimmjow answered simply and turned his head forward to concentrate on his passage through the rooms of the temple that they were running through. Orihime looked down at the ground. It was just like him to not answer the questions she had wanted to know the answers to the most. Despite that though, in her time with him, she came to realize that he wasn't anywhere near as bad than she originally thought. Looking back up at Grimmjow's eyes lined in black and blue, she sighed.

"No, I guess not." Orihime responded. Cerulean eyes met her grey ones for a moment, before she witnessed his pupils suddenly grow smaller. It was then when it hit her as well…the all too familiar god-like reiatsu…the one that she had help create. Grimmjow finally stopped and set Orihime down on her feet. Grimmjow only stood silently with his back to Orihime for a moment. Orihime found his behavior peculiar, so she tried to walk toward him, but the sound of his maniac laughter soon echoed through the large, vast room they stood in. Terrified by Grimmjow's sudden change of character, Orihime walked back a few steps. Finally, Grimmjow turned around with a delirious grin and held his hand out in a way that Orihime was all too familiar with.

"This is the end…" Grimmjow said wide-eyed as Orihime stared at him in shock. He then raised his hand straight in the air and instantly changed his manic grin into an eerily calm one. "…for me."

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And I am still inside you…

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Before Orihime could comprehend what he was doing, he fired a cero at the ceiling, causing huge chunks of stone to fall in front of her, effectively setting a barrier between the two of them.

"What are you doing?" Orihime exclaimed.

"I'll fend that stupid fucker off, but you can't die before then." Grimmjow proclaimed. "Then when I do, you get your ass to that alter in front of me and become the new God."

"But I'm afraid that won't be possible." An annoyingly paternal sounding voice said in front of him. Grimmjow looked ahead to see Aizen over flowing with reiatsu energy. The energy around him was so impressive, that it nearly blinded Grimmjow just to look at him. "The God you were all accustomed with has died by my hand. All that's left for me to do is claim my spot and mold the world how I see fit. If you bow down to me now, I'll go easy on you."

"Fuck that!" Grimmjow spat out. "The day I bow down to you is the same day I rip my own dick out with my bare hands!"

"I see." Aizen commented. "Then do not be offended when I show you no mercy."

Without a moment of hesitation, Grimmjow called out the release of his zanpakuto and faced Aizen with his usual, sadistic grin. In the meantime, Orihime could only listen to the fight as she struggled to remove the barrier of rubble in front of her. She had also called out her Shun Shun Rikka, whom helped her the best they could, although they were all still tired from opening the portal minutes ago. She had no sure way of telling who was winning in the fight, as all she could hear was the sound of swords clashing, an occasional comment peppered with profanity from Grimmjow, and Grimmjow's constant laughter during the fight.

When Orihime had finally removed enough debris to allow herself to climb over, all she saw was Grimmjow lying on the ground, with blood pouring out from several major wounds on his body. When he saw Orihime make his way over to him, he laughed weakly.

"I told ya I'd fend that stupid fucker off, didn't I?" Grimmjow commented.

"Aizen is really…gone?" Orihime asked, impressed.

"No…but he did run away with his tail between his legs like the pussy he is." Grimmjow replied as he laughed, which only made his wounds worse. Orihime quickly knelt down by him and tried to heal Grimmjow, but her Shun Shun Rikka would not appear.

"Why…?" Orihime asked, trying desperately to summon her power.

"You used them to move the rocks, didn't ya?" Grimmjow asked. Orihime put her head down and nodded. "You've exhausted the bastards, which isn't good, since I know Aizen's gonna come back."

"Grimmjow…I'm sorry…" Orihime muttered as tears formed in her eyes. "I'm sorry I can't save you."

"Heh, it's about damned time you cried for me." Grimmjow commented with a weak smirk. "Just tell me one thing…"

"What is it?" Orihime asked.

"If I was born a human…would you have loved me?" Grimmjow said, realizing the stupidity in the statement as he said it. But who the fuck cared? He was about to die anyways.

"I…I don't know." Orihime said with a slight blush. In an extremely twisted way, Grimmjow sort of was her first boyfriend, but then again, how could she know what would happen if he were human? Grimmjow snorted at her answer and gave her an annoyed look.

"I'm gonna die for saving your life, for fuck's sake. The least you could do is lie to me, woman!" Grimmjow growled at her.

Orihime was a little taken back by the return of the personality she was used to from him, but she smiled a little as she picked up his head and allowed it to rest against her bent knees. She then put a hand against the non-masked side of his face and ran her other hand through his hair.

"Then in that case…I wouldn't have." Orihime stated. Grimmjow rolled his eyes and nearly yelled at her again, but she cut him off. "You told me to lie, didn't you?"

Grimmjow realized what she meant and laughed as much as he could in his weak state. As Orihime stroked through his hair, Grimmjow finally felt at peace for the first time in his life. For a couple of minutes, he just laid in silence as he took in the tranquility of the scene. But as he felt the last bit of life drain out of him, he had to say one last thing.

"…I hate being the god damned hero." He muttered as he closed his eyes. When Orihime felt the last bit of reiatsu leave him, she put arms over his shoulders and cried into his hair.

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And I am still inside you…

----------

She continued to cry until she felt the massive reiatsu form return in front of her. Setting his body down gently, she wiped away her tears and stood to face Aizen straight in the eye.

"It's all over for you." Aizen stated. "I have claimed my position as God, and I have effectively killed every last human being and Shinigami in existence. The only person left is you."

Despite having her power out of commission, Orihime did not waiver at his words. Instead, she looked upon him with intense anger. Aizen looked amused at her expression as he slowly made his way toward her. Orihime only readied her stance in a fighting position. Even if her attacks wouldn't hit him, there was no way she would just stand there and let him kill her so easily.

Just before Aizen reached her though, he quickly moved to the side as a large arrow shaped energy zipped past him and hit a nearby wall. Orihime gasped as she looked past Aizen to her savior in the doorway. Following her lead, Aizen slowly turned as well, but didn't look nearly as impressed as Orihime did.

"You're wrong, you didn't kill everyone." he said and narrowed his eyes in anger. 'And because of that, I, Uryuu Ishida, the last of the Quincy, swear to kill you for all that you've done."

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Sorry for taking so long to update, but I was really fretting on just how much sex I should put into this chapter. Before, I got WAYYY too detailed and didn't notice how much it took away from the story until I got about half ways through it and decided to split it off from this story. So whenever I get bored, I'll make a porn without plot featuring the two of them in either Livejournal, Deviantart, or AFF. . 

And seriously…Kubo needs to reveal the name of the female Espada. It's bugging the hell out of me, because she seems like a REALLY cool character from the little I've seen of her.

As always, the song featured is by Nine Inch Nails, and as you might guess is titled 'Home". To the reader who inquired about the use of "Burn", it won't be featured in this story, but I will consider using it for other stories, as I did use it in a RP of sorts a REALLY long time ago and it worked pretty well then. And for those of you curious, the song I decided to use for the next chapter after a lot of thought is "Beside You in Time".

Anyways, the next chapter will feature an Ishida/Orihime pairing. Despite it being my favorite Orihime pairing though, it won't be nearly as shippy as this chapter was, but a little more shippy than the first chapter. Either way though, I think I can fairly say that the ending will definitely be one of the more interesting ones in fanfiction.


	4. Beside You In Time

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In This Twilight

Chapter Four: Beside You in Time

Ishida/Orihime

By Renegade Raine

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I am all alone this time around…

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---

One month before…

---

"You idiot! If you go alone, even you are going to get killed!" Ishida exclaimed as his orange-haired companion walked ahead of him. "Sado and Tatsuki have already been killed, and if you die, how the hell are we going to save Inoue-san? Do you want her to help those bastards for the rest of her life?!"

Ichigo stopped walking and turned around to face Ishida. His usual, grouchy expression faded off of his face as he replaced it with a more carefree look and a shrug.

"Don't you get it?" Ichigo asked him. "There's a reason why I want to go alone."

"It's some pride issue, isn't it?" Ishida replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Well…yeah." Ichigo replied with a shrug, but quickly turned serious again. "But more importantly, if I die… I want you to save Inoue-san."

"Well, if that's the case, then I'll go now instead of you." Ishida said. "I'll be able to distract them long enough for Inoue-san to escape at least."

"No." Ichigo said with a shake of his head. "Your powers still haven't been fully restored and you just got out of a fight with another. What I want you to do is to return to our world and keep training. If I survive, then I'll come back with Orihime and we can celebrate. However, if I die, then you keep on training until you know you can save her, and complete the task that I couldn't."

"But Ichigo-" Ishida protested.

"Don't argue with me…I've made my mind." Ichigo said. "And besides, I want to be the one to kill that bastard, Noitora."

Knowing there was no way to talk him out of it, Ishida sighed. Accepting his defeat, Ishida looked up at Ichigo and gave him a stern look.

"Fine." Ishida stated. "But whatever you do, you had better live…for Inoue's sake at least."

"I don't know what you're trying to imply there." Ichigo replied. "But I'll try."

With that, Ichigo turned around again and continue to walk through the massive road of sand ahead of him. Ishida just simply watched him walk away as he left a lonely set of footprints in the sand, in which the heavy winds quickly erased. It wasn't until he couldn't seem him any longer before Ishida started to move. With one last sigh, Ishida turned the opposite direction and followed his orders.

"Ichigo…you bastard." Ishida muttered to himself. "You had better live. Not just for her sake…but for all of us."

Not long after he muttered to himself, he reached the portal that Urahara had created for the two and reluctantly walked through it. Little did he know that it was that day which would be the last time he would see Ichigo Kurosaki ever again.

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Sometimes on the side I hear a sound…

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For the first few days, Ishida trained around Karakura Town, hoping that Ichigo would come back with Orihime soon. When he still didn't come back after three days though, Ishida came to the conclusion that Ichigo was never coming back. After a few hours of thinking, Ishida came to the conclusion that he was going to need at least a month of training before he could even hope to compete with the likes of Aizen and the rest of the Espada. Before anything else though, he had to run.

Luckily, before his father had unfortunately fallen in battle with Isshin by Aizen's hands (even if they had managed to take down Tousen in the process), he had taught Ishida to drive. As everyone in town either died or fled for their lives, Ishida had a wide variety of vehicles in town that he could choose from. In the end though, he decided to use something he could conceal easier and pilfered an abandoned motorbike.

For a while, he kept traveling north, as he liked training in the mountains. However, after a week of training, he had run into a member of the Espada. Ishida never caught his name, but as he looked up at the towering, black man, he felt as if he were in a modern day's version of David and Goliath. The Espada did not speak often, but his impressive brute strength more than made up for it. Unfortunately, the strength did not come with intellect, and it startled even Ishida on how easily his battle was won.

After that day, Ishida traveled west, only stopping to train at places where he knew he could conceal his reiatsu. He never really knew why he chose to travel west, but he had some sort of premonition that he would be needed, so he didn't bother questioning it too terribly much.

His premonition rang true as he sensed two large reiatsu energies. One seemed vaguely familiar, but the other he knew all too well…it was Orihime! Shortly afterwards, he sensed another unfamiliar reiatsu form, followed by the reiatsu energies of Renji and Rukia. For a short while, Ishida was relieved…until he sensed several reiatsu forms in the area. Now he knew that it couldn't be good, as he was sure that there was not that many humans or Shinigami left in the world. Storing his bow aside, he mounted his motorbike and rushed toward the scene as quickly as possible.

As he had feared, the area was completely swarming with arrancar. Even with one shot of his bow, he had barely managed to clear himself a path to Renji and Rukia, whom were obviously running on the very last of their energy by the time he had arrived. The two had managed to take out an impressive amount of arrancar together, but by the time Ishida had helped them to completely clear the area of the enemy, both had collapsed to the ground.

"Where did Inoue-san go?" Ishida asked the both of them. "She wasn't abducted again, was she?"

"No…she has gone ahead." Rukia informed him. "Only she can put a stop to this."

"Where did she go? Through that portal?" Ishida inquired.

"Yep, she wanted us to go with, but we decided to try to hold these arrancar bastards back." Renji answered. "We told her that we'd follow her…but it looks like it's the end for both of us."

"So she went by herself?!" Ishida exclaimed. "What are you guys thinking?!"

"No, she was not alone." Rukia replied.

"Then who went with her?" Ishida asked, trying to figure out the answer.

"Grimmjow." She answered simply.

"What?" Ishida exclaimed as he gave both an exaggerated, incredulous look. "That's even worse!"

"I know, it seems…bad, but for some reason, I think he'll protect her with his life." Rukia said with a weak smile.

"He's an Espada!" Ishida exclaimed. "Why the hell would he protect her?"

Rukia looked over at Renji as warmly as she could before she turned her head back to Ishida. "I just know."

"In any case, I best be on my way, even if I would feel more confident if you two could accompany me." Ishida stated.

"Please tell Orihime that we're sorry that we could not come with..." Rukia muttered. "…You will save her, right?"

"Of course, I'll save her no matter what." Ishida said with an intense glare in his eyes.

"Good…she's the world's only hope now." Rukia said after Ishida went through the portal. Shortly afterwards, the sky turned almost completely black as a massive rain fell through the heavens.

"He's claimed his position of God already…perhaps the world really is doomed." Renji stated as the two lied on the ground, looking up at the sky.

"No… Orihime will bring salvation to the world…I know she will." Rukia countered. "We're both about to leave the world…let's leave without any regrets."

"With you by my side…there's no way I could leave without any regret." Renji said as a lopsided grin crept upon his face. Rukia looked over at Renji's bloodied body and reached her hand out to him. With a little effort, Renji reached his own arm out and held onto Rukia's hand. Despite the rain pelting on them from above, neither one of them died with a regret in their mind.

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Places parallel I know it's you…

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As soon as Ishida stepped through the portal, he was almost brought down to his knees with the amount of reiatsu he could feel seeping in whatever world he had just set foot on. If he hadn't trained himself, he probably would have been completely overwhelmed with the spiritual pressure that filled the place. Fortunately though, after a moment of losing his composure, he picked himself up and hastily made his way toward the energy.

As he approached a large alter area, he finally set his eyes upon the form of Aizen, which was leaking so much reiatsu, that light pulsated from his body. Although her back was to him, there was no mistaking that the crouching form nearest to Ishida was Orihime. As she stood up, Aizen made his way toward her, and Ishida knew that if he did not make a move soon, it would be not only the end of her, but the end of the world as well. Forming a bow, he concentrated hard as he tried to figure out exactly where he should aim.

"It's all over for you." Aizen boasted. "I have claimed my position of God and I have effectively killed every last human being and Shinigami in existence. The only person left is you."

Knowing he could not wait any longer, Ishida released his arrow, and as he had expected, it did not hit Aizen directly. However, it did distract him long enough to take Aizen's focus off of Orihime for a couple of seconds at least. That would have to do for the time being. Stepping out of the shadows, Ishida made his presence known.

"You're wrong, you didn't kill everyone." He said with contained malice. "And because of that, I, Uryuu Ishida, the last of the Quincy, swear to kill you for everything you've done."

"Oh?" was the only reply that came from the lips of Aizen as he looked upon him with a calm smirk and a raised eyebrow. "It appears that I indeed did miss one."

Orihime ran up to Ishida, feeling the biggest sense of relief in her life, since she had willingly gone with Ulquiorra to Hueco Mundo. Ishida was so focused on Aizen though, that he could barely give her a glance.

"Ishida-kun! I'm so relieved that you're alive!" Orihime exclaimed, but her face quickly turned into a more melancholy expression. "I'm not sure if coming to save me was the best idea though. Even Grimmjow could only drive him off for a couple of minutes."

"Don't make me laugh, Orihime-san." Aizen finally spoke up. "Grimmjow didn't 'drive' me off at all. I merely waited until he tired himself out, and then I left to claim my power. Unlike you, I'm not naïve enough to believe that all of my enemies will sit nicely and lead me to my powers."

"Don't worry about him, Inoue-san." Ishida said to her. "I'll distract him…you just do whatever you have to do to stop this madness."

"But…I don't know what I have to do!" Orihime explained. "And if you face him, you're going to d-"

"I said don't worry about him." Ishida said with a hint of irritation. "I swore to not only Kurosaki-kun, but to myself that I'd save you. If you don't have faith in me, at least have some faith in Ichigo."

Upon hearing the name of her fallen crush, Orihime looked down and stayed silent for a few seconds. She still blamed herself for Ichigo's death, so it still hurt her to think of him. So if Ichigo had made Ishida promise to save her, she knew she owed him at least that final wish. With a defeated sigh, Orihime walked a few steps away.

"Okay…but please don't die for my sake." Orihime said to him. "If you do…I'll never be able to forgive myself."

"I understand." Ishida responded. "That's why I won't die."

"Are you fools done with your morose banter yet?" Aizen quipped. "I'm afraid I don't have time for this type of thing these days."

"My apologies, it does appear that I got carried away." Ishida said with a slight curve of his lips. He then drew out his bow. "Shall we?"

As the fight begun between Ishida and Aizen, Orihime hurried toward the altar in the back of the room. She still didn't know what she was supposed to do to gain the power she needed to vanquish Aizen, but she knew it had to do with that structure. When she reached it, she looked all around to try to find some sort of clue, but she could not find any.

----------

Feel the little pieces bleeding through…

And on…

This goes on…

And on…

And on…

And on…

----------

All Orihime could do was helplessly watch as Ishida and Aizen fought each other. After several arrows had failed to cause any effect to Aizen, Ishida switched his arrow to a sword and attempted to attack Aizen using that. However, he wasn't doing much better with his switch of offense.

Looking away from the battle, Orihime forced herself to think of possible ways to end Aizen's reign as God. After a few moments, Orihime suddenly remembered the words of advice passed onto her by the sole female of the Espada.

"If you are too late…the only thing you can do is give the greatest sacrifice of them all."

"The greatest sacrifice?" Orihime said to herself. What this great sacrifice was, Orihime did not know. However, with nearly all of her friends and allies dead, the only thing Orihime had left in this world was Ishida…and there was no way she would lead him to his death. On the other hand though, she had to save the world, and she was somehow the only person who could do that.

All of the sudden, Orihime felt Aizen's reiatsu as he rushed toward her. Before Orihime could even blink though, Ishida rushed just as fast and blocked Orihime from getting hit with this bow. Craning his neck to look at her, Ishida gave her a look of urgency.

"I can't hold him back much longer, you must hurry!" Ishida exclaimed. "Figure out what you have to do to make all of this stop!"

"I'm trying to!" Orihime cried out. "But the only way I could stop this is if…"

Orihime paused as the epiphany hit her. She then grew eerily quiet as Ishida stared back at her.

"What is it, Inoue-san?" Ishida asked while trying to hold Aizen back.

"…If it didn't exist in the first place." Orihime finished. Ishida gave her one last confused look before Aizen started to break through his bow. Orihime finally looked up from the ground as she gave a serene smile. "If I never existed in this world, then none of this would have ever happened."

In an instant, Aizen ceased his struggle against Ishida and gave Orihime a momentary look of bewilderment before he simply laughed.

"By all means, go for it." Aizen encouraged her. "If you didn't exist, then all of your power would go to me."

Ishida turned around and walked to Orihime's side. Orihime's calm expression did not change as Aizen dared her to go through with her plan with his body language alone. Ishida grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look at him.

"Orihime, what do you think you're doing?" Ishida nearly yelled at her. "You're the world's only hope right now, and you're going to just give up?" 

"No…for once, you don't understand what it is that I have to do." Orihime said to him. "Besides Tatsuki-chan, I always felt that you understood me the most, however, I can only save the world by throwing my existence away."

"Do you realize how moronic that sounds?" Ishida responded. Orihime's smile only faded for a split second before she recovered and managed to call out her Shun Shun Rikka. As the six forms floated in front of her, Orihime gave a long look before talking.

"I know this is a lot to ask…" Orihime started.

"Yeah, yeah…we already know." Tsubaki said nonchalantly. "We can hear ya, y'know?"

"Can you guys help me?" Orihime asked them. "Please help me wipe my existence from the boundaries of this world, so that I can never bring pain to another person again."

"We don't want to be the ones to do it…but if it's your request, we must obey." Shun'o said to her as she turned to look at everyone else. "You heard what she said everyone."

After a moment of hesitation, the six agreed and formed a barrier around Orihime. Powerless to the situation, Ishida could only stare with his mouth agape as he tried to figure out what he was going to do with Aizen, who was looking rather smug at the moment. When the barrier faded, Orihime was nowhere to be found.

----------

Now that I've decided not to stay…

I can feel me start to fade away…

----------

"Well now…shall we continue?" Aizen asked with a slight shrug. "Even if it is useless now."

"Even if she isn't here anymore, there's no way I would give up against you!" Ishida said with an intense glare. "I'll defeat you, no matter what it takes!"

"In that case, I'll be merciful, as I'm sure you're feeling a lot of pain for losing everyone close to you…so I'll make your death quick." Aizen said. "However, I can not guarantee that it will be painless."

In a speed impossible to achieve as a mere human, Aizen rushed toward Ishida. However, he was forced to stopped when he felt the whole room vibrate with a new reiatsu that overpowered even his own. He was not able to even look up at the owner of the massive energy, until the power was eased slightly. When he finally looked up, his pupils shrunk out of pure shock of what he saw.

Her hair was a more vibrant color, her eyes shone with a new light, but it was no mistaking who it was…it was Orihime Inoue. The same calm look was upon her face as her hair floated around her face as she looked upon Aizen's face. Orihime then turned her head to give Ishida (who looked every bit as dumbfounded as Aizen did) a maternal-like smile.

"H-how…is this possible?" Aizen raged. "Only one person can obtain the powers of a true god!" 

"You're correct." Orihime confirmed in an authoritative voice that was still her own. "Only one person can obtain the powers of a true god."

"But why did it go to you?" Aizen seethed. "You're supposed to be dead!"

"I am?" Orihime asked. "I merely wished to have never existed in this world…but eternity is beyond this world, isn't it?"

"That still doesn't explain how you got that power!" Aizen sneered.

"It's easy, really." Orihime said with a thoughtful look. "All you care about is yourself, so you only claimed the power to hurt everything around you. However, you didn't even think of grabbing the power to create life naturally. And because of that power, I hold the power over everyone's fate"

"Even if that were true, what can you do to me?" Aizen said, as his confidence returned. "I'm now a god too, remember?"

"I guess the power went gone to your head." Orihime responded with a grin, but instantly turned serious again. "Or did you forget that you were once human as well?"

Realizing just how much trouble he was in, Aizen could only give Orihime a hateful glare as she took a couple of steps toward him.

"As the new God, it is my job to judge people on whether or not they are suited to be in this world." Orihime spoke. "Unfortunately, with all the hurt you've caused to every one in the entire world, and even to some of the very own race you created, it would be foolish for anyone to believe that you should continue to exist in any form in any time or place."

"N-no!" Aizen muttered. "I'm not through with this world yet! I haven't created my paradise for my own perfect race!"

"And I regret to tell you that you never will." Orihime responded. Closing her eyes, Orihime created a light so bright, that even Ishida had to turn his head away from the light. The brightness then consumed Aizen's entire form until he was no more. Orihime then briefly flicked a hand as time seemingly stopped around her and Ishida.

"So…you were right after all." Ishida commented. Orihime only slightly shrugged before Ishida turned to look at her. "So what happens next?"

"I must create a new world." Orihime responded. "It'll be kind of like when you're playing a video game, but you make a big mistake. Instead of letting yourself die though, you press the reset button and try everything over again."

"I see." Ishida said. "And what will happen to me now?"

"I'm afraid that when creating the new world, that this world has to cease to be." Orihime answered. "Which is why I've stopped time for now."

"And you?" Ishida asked. "What are you going to do in the new world?"

"Unfortunately, I can only watch." Orihime said. "It won't matter anyways, since nobody will remember who I am."

"That's not true." Ishida said with a shake of his head. "Even if you erase your existence…I'll never forget."

"Ishida-kun…thanks for always believing in me." Orihime said as she looked down at him. "I know that I'll never be able to stop hatred, and I know that I'll never be able to stop war. However…I promise that I'll make the world a better place…for everyone."

Orihime then knelt down and kissed the top of Ishida's head before making a slight wave with her hand to allow time to continue. Orihime gave Ishida one last warm look before she ascended into the heavens. After she disappeared from his sight, Ishida took a few steps before he noticed the entire world crumble before his eyes. As the white light approached him, Ishida only grinned as it engulfed him as well.

----------

Everything is back where it belongs…

I will be beside you before long…

----------

Now that the world was a blank slate, the only thing that Orihime had to do was create a new world to replace it. At first, she considered adding some extra things like dragons and unicorns, but then Orihime figured that dragons would probably try to eat humans, and that people would probably hunt the unicorns for their horns. In the end, Orihime finally decided to make the world exactly as it had been without Aizen.

However, she had a few changes she wanted to make.

----------

This goes on…

----------

First of all, Chizuru was not a part of this world. Chizuro, however, was a prominent man in the high schools of Karakura Town. At first, people picked on him for having fuchsia colored hair, which fueled the obvious gay comments from the men. Somehow, the gay comments didn't phase the male at all, which even disturbed him a bit. However, every time Chizuro would manage to get to get the girl's number in which whatever guy was bullying was trying to pursue, he would always leave the scene with the smuggest look on his face.

----------

And on…

----------

Tatsuki could only put her arms up to block as the offender in front of her attempted a series of punches and kicks to her body. While she blocked, she finally spotted an opening and tore right through that opening with a swift uppercut. Her opponent went flying into the air until they fell unconscious to the ground. Tatsuki panted as she sunk into a corner.

A bell then rang through the area as a referee ran into the ring. He gripped Tatsuki's sweat coated arm as he raised it into the air. The massive crowd in the arena erupted into cheers and several flashes from cameras nearly blinded Tatsuki.

"The winner by knock out and the NEW Vale Tudo champion…Tatsuki Arisawa!" the announcer shouted

Despite her fatigue, she still managed to grin widely. She had just achieved her life dream, so there wasn't any reason for her not to smile. Not to mention that in the very front, she could see her fiancé in the very front row. He didn't cheer and holler like everyone else in the crowd did, but he still gave her the approving smirk she came to love. When he had first proposed to her, it seemed only natural that she should say yes right away, but yet she felt as if she were betraying herself…or someone else by accepting. She got over it though, and the two were now set to wed in just a few months.

She then would become Tatsuki Kurosaki.

----------

And on…

----------

Compared to Tatsuki's life, Chad's life was boringly simple. He did fairly well in school, but chose not to attend any renowned college and get a high paying job. Money was never Chad's goal though. He was just happy enough being close to the people in the town, and helping Ichigo fight when the time came necessary.

He eventually moved next door to the Kurosaki Clinic and opened up a pet shop as he always had a weak spot for cute animals, and enjoyed the company of the children who would come in to choose a new pet to join their family. It always saddened him a little, but he knew that they would be happy in their new home.

However, there was one parakeet that he felt so close to, that he wouldn't allow it to be sold. He sometimes felt as if they had met in a previous life, He figured that it was only because he had it in his possession for so long though. After all, it was probably impossible for a bird and a man like him to have met before…right?

----------

And on…

----------

Soul Society still pretty much functioned as it did before, but without the threat of Aizen hanging over them, things were a bit less complicated. For instance, Rangiku Matsumoto still struggled on her own for a long while, until she ran into and became acquainted with Gin Ichimaru.

However, without Aizen around, Gin was always by her side. Sometimes they would play their childish games and sometimes they would suffer as they tried to find food to supplement their large spirit energies. However, once they were accepted into Shinigami school, things became easier for the both of them.

Gin became captain of the Third Division soon after he graduated and Rangiku again became the vice-captain of the Tenth Division. One thing that had changed in their previous life though was that soon after they had graduated, they both got married in a pretty big ceremony, attended by several of the friends they had made in school. Neither suffered ever again after that day.

----------

And on…

----------

Rukia's life started out exactly as it had before. Her sister abandoned her at an early age to find a better life for the both of them, although she left Rukia to fend for herself because of it. She dealt with it through the years though, before she helped Renji steal some water from some old geezer.

Their friends had still died like before, and they both still went to Shinigami school to try to find a better life for the both of them. Renji did quite well and was about to brag to Rukia about passing another test, when he saw the form of what he assumed was a noble in Rukia's room. However, his reiatsu was not enough to hold his head down in place, so Renji was able to look further in the room to see a woman that looked almost exactly like Rukia, who was embracing the actual Rukia. Rukia looked a little tense at first, but then accepted the hug.

"What is going on here?" Renji finally asked. After a long pause, Rukia finally turned toward Renji.

"This is my older sister, Hisana." Rukia explained. Renji looked at the two sisters again, still shocked by the amount of similarities in appearance between the two.

"Yes…and I'd like to offer you a place to stay with me in my fiancé's manor." Hisana said as she looked at her sister.

Rukia looked down as she thought about her decision. Feeling a little pang in his heart, Renji looked over at Rukia. His first thought was to scream at her not to do it and to stay at the academy with him, but he knew it would be selfish. After all, Rukia often told him her anguish over not knowing what had happened to her sister. He didn't know who the dark haired man was, but he looked pretty well to do. He was sure that if she chose to stay with them, she would probably be the happiest she ever was in her life.

"Thanks for the offer…" Rukia muttered. "But you have already found someone to keep you happy in your life. And I…"

Rukia paused briefly as she looked over at Renji before looking back at her sister.

"I think I've found someone as well." Rukia said with a slight blush as her sister gave her an understanding smile.

"I see." Hisana replied. "In that case, I hope that you and your friend visit us sometime after you graduate."

"Of course we will." Rukia said with a nod of her head. She then looked over to Renji, whose face was completely flushed. "Right?"

"Y…yeah." Renji replied.

Hisana giggled a little before walking a few steps to Byakuya. She grabbed his arm and looked up at him.

"Shall we go?" She asked, which Byakuya answered with a simple nod. The two then left, leaving Renji and Rukia alone in the room. Renji was still blushing as he scratched the back of his head.

"So…Rukia…" he started. Rukia grabbed his arm though as she rushed toward the door.

"You idiot, we're gonna be late for our next class!" Rukia shouted at him. "Quit bumbling around and let's go!"

"Hey, it's not my fault that we're gonna be late!" Renji yelled back as he chased her down the hall. Even if they would be with each other for the rest of their lives, they still had a lot of issues to work out before the two would eventually marry.

----------

And on…

----------

Out of everyone that Orihime had known, she made the least changes to Ichigo Kurosaki's life. He could still talk to spirits and he still met with Rukia to eventually become a Shinigami Representative. Nothing big ever happened though, so he never had to travel to Soul Society for any reason, beside to train to fight against the Hollows.

Other than becoming a Shinigami though, his life was relatively simple. He decided to become a doctor, so that he could run the clinic when his father retired. Yuzu also went into the medical field and became a proficient nurse, so that she could always help her brother out. Karin, however, left the house when she was still relatively young to become a world famous soccer prodigy.

Although Ichigo's life seemed perfect, it still bothered him that sometimes it seemed too perfect. He often wondered if his life was real at all, or if it was all just a big dream. Also, when he was with his friends, he often felt that something was missing…but he never knew exactly who or what it was.

He was growing up though and was soon going to get married, so Ichigo knew that he had to get over it. After all, what good was his life if he was going to mope about it?

----------

And on…

----------

In his adulthood, Uryuu Ishida became world famous because of his skills. He did not become a doctor, like his father had wanted; instead he became a fashion designer, whose fashions were worn by the wealthy all over the world.

Although his fashions were well received by critics everywhere, Ishida often had trouble trying to find the right model for his designs. Eventually, he became so frustrated in his search for a perfect model, that he held a worldwide search to find the face of his Quincy brand name.

When he was in France, he had just about given up on his search, when he laid his eyes upon a female with light red hair and eyes that were nearly the color of ice. When she came up to the judging booth, she was a little shy, but there was something about her that seemed really familiar. Despite the protests from the other judges, Ishida immediately decided that she would represent the Quincy clothing line.

To everyone's surprise, she was actually a huge hit for his clothing line, which shot her to superstardom. Although Ishida was appreciative for all the hard work she had put forth for his company, he could never see her any more than a co-worker. So when she had suddenly declared her feelings for love for him, he could not return them.

She was perfect in everyway…but that was the problem. She was perfect. Almost as if she were some kind of humanoid robot. It still felt as she reminded him of someone he knew, but he was sure that there wasn't anyone significant in his past that would bring up those assumptions. He went on with his life, continuing to make excellent designs, but no matter what, he always wondered why his model bothered him and whom exactly she reminded him of.

----------

"You already made so many changes and even added that French hussy to that world…are you done yet?" An impatient Tsubaki asked Orihime, who was very worn out after all the thought she had put into creating the new world. She had remembered Ishida's words that he wouldn't forget her no matter what, so she had created a woman that looked quite a bit like her, but she made a little prettier. She also removed all of her clumsy antics and decided to make her a little less naïve than she was, as she figured that people would like her better if she only had her good qualities, not realizing that it was her idiosyncrasies that made her so endearing in the first place. In any case, her work was still not complete.

"No…there are still a few changes I want to make." Orihime answered as she concentrated deeply to think of what to do with the next few people. "First of all, I should repay that woman. Without her help, I would have never been able to do any of this…"

----------

We will never die…

----------

Although the Quincy's model was known throughout the world as the "It" girl, there was no denying the power that another model held throughout the world. Her hair was of a color so yellow, that everyone speculated that she dyed it, when it was actually her natural color. Her turquoise eyes contrasted with her darker skin, which made her a favorite for cosmetic ads. However, her very curvy figure also secured her a spot as the spokes model for HAG lingerie.

Despite her popularity though, not a single person knew her real name. Tabloids paid countless agencies to find the truth behind her name, but not one could turn up any results. However, the tabloids soon put that to rest when she was spotted making appearances with the most notorious playboy of them all, Noitora. Even if he did sport an eye patch, he was still successful in seducing several of the world's most famous models, actresses, and musicians. However, this particular affair took the tabloids by storm as Noitora and his newest flame were often found arguing with each other, because of his flirtatious nature. It always wound up with a physical fight between them, with the woman somehow always managing to be the victor.

Unknown to the tabloids though, after she would drag him out of whatever party she was attending, she would drag him to whatever hotel room she was staying at and proceeded to have her way with him. Although she was a lot rougher than what he was used to, Noitora had to admit that he was so damned turned on. Which was why he never got bored with her. It would be damaging to his pride if he couldn't even get her to be the bitch even one time in their encounters. He was determined to reach the day when finally he would become the dominant one in their relationship.

That day never came.

----------

"I also want Ulquiorra to finally have a reason to smile." Orihime continued.

----------

Beside you in time…

----------

No longer did Ulquiorra ever have to follow another order in his life. Not to mention, he didn't have to worry about his half-helmet that formally covered the left side of his head. His life was actually relatively normal, as he attended school in Karakura Town. His grades were constantly near the top, although he never really gained much recognition in school, as he hardly ever talked to anyone.

He would often get called "emo", because of the style of his hair and the black lines that he would apply to his face with eyeliner, but he would only ignore everyone's accusations. He hated to be following the typical emo stereotype, but he found that he actually liked writing poetry and often wrote during his constant alone time. Also, he regretted the day when he found out that he liked hanging out in coffee houses. Needless to say, Ulquiorra decided that if he listened to the mundane music that the typical emo person listened to and cried over what typically was usually pointless, that perhaps he really was part of that cliché.

One day as he was writing new poetry in his favorite coffee house though, he came across a female with long, orange hair and some of the most intense blue eyes that he had ever seen. A male, which he recognized as Uryuu Ishida from his class followed her inside. As the girl looked at the menu for several minutes, Ulquiorra could tell that Ishida was getting a little impatient. Finally, the girl looked around until she saw Ulquiorra sitting at a nearby table.

"So what would you recommend for a girl like me?" she asked him, with a sheepish grin. "I've never been into one of these places before."

"Uh…mocha frappuccino?" Ulquiorra responded, not really knowing the answer himself.

"Okay, that's what I'll get then!" The girl beamed as she turned to go by Ishida again and ordered Ulquiorra's suggestion. When she got her drink, she plopped her straw into the middle of it and took a big sip of it. Curious to see her reaction, Ulquiorra stopped writing for a few moments. Slowly, the girl's expression turned from curious to overjoyed. "So good!"

Her joy over something so simple was fascinating to Ulquiorra. When she finally got over the initial taste of her drink and thanked him for the suggestion, for the first time in what seemed like ages to Ulquiorra, he was able to smile back at her in return, even if it was a rather weak one.

After that day, the girl would stop by the coffee house frequently to get a mocha frappuccino, and she would usually manage to start up a conversation with Ulquiorra. At first, he had missed the time to write, but eventually found that conversing with the girl was far more interesting, even if it was mostly him listening to her talk. It was Ulquiorra who the girl first told about her feelings for Ishida, and asked him what she should do about it. Ulquiorra had absolutely no relationship experience in his life, but just to try to comfort her, he told her to tell Ishida about her feelings and that he was sure that he would be able to fall in love with a girl like her.

The next day, however, Ulquiorra was troubled by her crestfallen expression. The brightness that emanated from that girl, that usually it even affected Ulquiorra to feel the warmth within himself. That day, however, Ulquiorra could feel nothing from the girl. He had a feeling he knew what happened, but he figured he'd hear it in her own words.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I guess I'm not the one for him after all." She replied, with her eyes downcast.

"Why is that?"

"He said that I was too perfect for him and that we were better off as business partners." She answered. "I guess I'm stupid for thinking that he could ever think of me of any more than that."

"You're wrong." Ulquiorra droned. "He's the fool."

"Wha…what do you mean?" she stuttered. "He's a genius and I'm just a stupid girl."

"Nobody is perfect." Ulquiorra stated, as the girl gave him a confused look. "That's the best part of life. Nobody is perfect, so you have to appreciate all the flaws that come with each person. It's just that your flaws aren't as obvious as everyone else's. So if he is too moronic to realize that, he's the fool, not you."

"Ulquiorra…thanks." The girl said, as her usual warmness returned in her expression. Ulquiorra smiled back in return. It was not long after that day before the two of them started to date. Finally, for the first time in both of their existences, they were both able to lead a happy life.

----------

"Well…that was unexpected, wasn't it?" Orihime remarked to her Shun Shun Rikka as she watched Ulquiorra on a date with the girl whom she poorly modeled after herself. "I made her to make Ishida-kun happy, but I guess no matter what, life will always be unpredictable. Oh well…at least Ulquiorra is finally happy."

"Indeed." Shun'o replied. "But what about Grimmjow…he…"

"I know." Orihime answered with a sad expression. "All I wanted was for him to have the freedom he so desperately wanted…but because of it, he's miserable in a way that only he could express…"

----------

We will never die…

----------

From the day he was born, Grimmjow swore that if there was a god, he obviously had a grudge against him. His parents abandoned him when he was just a child; although he was still old enough to remember that they had decided not to raise him and to just leave him in front of the orphanage.

That orphanage wasn't any better. The kids would constantly tease him, because his natural hair color was a sky blue. He had no idea why that was the case, but he figured it was some curse put on him on his birth. Eventually, he learned that if he sucker punched everyone who made fun of him in the face, they learned to shut their traps real fast.

Once he got into high school, he was pretty much at the peak of his hatred for the whole world. By that time, he had run away from the orphanage and made his home inside an abandoned warehouse he found while wandering around one day. He had tried going to high school for a little bit, but that pissed him off even more. Especially that kid, Ichigo Kurosaki. He himself didn't quite know why he hated him so much, but when he challenged him to a fight, that kid never backed down. That was fine with Grimmjow though, as he didn't feel the least bit guilty when he beat both Ichigo and that tall brown-noser friend of his senseless. Eventually, he got expelled, and Grimmjow didn't care the least bit.

After that, Grimmjow did pretty much whatever the hell he wanted. He slept with a lot of women, but would immediately break their hearts the next day, as it didn't seem quite right with any of them. The days he hated the most though was when it rained. He always felt lonely, and it always bothered him, because he always was alone. When it rained though, he somehow felt as if he were missing something. It was enough to drive him even more insane than at the point he was already at.

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With everyone else happily living their lives, Orihime watched Grimmjow the most; as he was the only person she knew that still was not content. It pained her to see how much he hated his life and how he blamed it on herself (even if there was no way he could know that she was God) for all that he had gone through.

In a sense, it was her fault, so Orihime felt horrible. She knew that she could not contact him directly, but she still knew a way that she could apologize to him: through his dreams.

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It was the same typical, shitty routine, except on a different, shitty day. The only thing left to do was go to bed, have his usual dreamless sleep, and hope to hell that the world would blow up the next day, so that he wouldn't be as bored out of his skull as he was now.

Once he fell asleep though, he found himself in a field of flowers so white, that it made him sick. He didn't know what was going on, but he sure as hell knew that he didn't like it. He looked around, until he saw a vibrant figure whose orange colored hair floated around her. Squinting his eyes in a mixture of confusion and mild annoyance, he made his way toward her.

"I'm sorry for everything." The woman said as she turned around. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow as he approached her. She seemed like she came from another plane of existence, but yet he felt as if he knew her somehow.

"Who are you and what the hell are ye sorry about?" Grimmjow asked.

"Because of me, you have experienced a horrible life." Orihime replied. "I never meant for it to be like that…I just wanted you to have the freedom you always wanted."

"Yeah, freedom is all I have." Grimmjow said with a snort. "But you still didn't answer the first question. Who the hell are you?"

"It's probably better if you don't know." Orihime said. "Beside, there's no way I can be with you. If I were still human though…I do think that I would love you."

"What the hell are you babblin' about?"" Grimmjow asked with a shake of his head. However, memories from the life before were slowly creeping their way back into his head. It disturbed him that the last part of her statement strangely made some sense to him. "All I want to know is your fuckin' name."

"I…I already said too much." Orihime stuttered. "You're about to wake up…I can't stay any longer."

With a jolt, Grimmjow suddenly opened his eyes. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead before sitting up. For the first time in a very long period of time, he finally had a dream. However, that felt way too real to be a dream. The sickeningly sweet scent of flowers was still in his nose, and a whole lot of memories that he knew that he didn't experience in his current life were suddenly rushing through his mind.

"Ori…hime?" Grimmjow sounded out to himself. Was that the name of the female in his dream? He noticed that she kind of looked like that famous model broad that modeled for that wimp kid he went to school with for a while, but knew it definitely wasn't her.

He took a few aspirins, but the images that flashed in his mind continued until he had about half of his memory from his previous life mixed in with his already present memories. If he were any normal person, this would be the time when he would admit himself to a mental institution. However, there was no way that he would even walk near a place like that. However, he had to figure out how to deal with his newfound memories, most of which involved that girl from his dream. Most of which strangely turned him on.

At that moment, his mind suggested that he travel by foot to some European country. He was pretty sure that it was France, but he wasn't quite sure. He immediately thought to himself that it was also the most moronic thought that ever passed through his head ever. However, he knew that somehow he had to find that Orihime chick and figure out what the hell was going on with him and his head.

Deciding that he really didn't have anything better to do, Grimmjow stepped outside of his dilapidated home and walked over to a motorcycle that he had stolen from some tool a while back. He would travel to Europe, as he had a feeling that was where he could meet the girl from his dream, but there was no way in hell that he was going to travel by foot when he knew how to drive.

Grimmjow revved his engine once, before he sped through the roads and out of the town he despised with every fiber of his being. He didn't knew whether or not he would ever find that girl or if he could even begin to understand what was going on with his head, but he wasn't going to sit on his ass and see if the problems would fix themselves. He hated his life up until this point, but by taking this foolish journey, maybe, just maybe he would find a purpose to live.

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Beside you in time.

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Author's Notes

…and that's the end! For those of you thinking "WTF MATE? What happens next?". The answer is simple. Decide for yourself.

Does Grimmjow go on the journey to find nothing at all, go berserk and go on a killing spree? Does he find a way to get into contact with Orihime and rekindle their romance on GOD MODE? Or does Ishida, Ulquiorra, Noitora, and Ichigo just suddenly have flashbacks and decide that they all want a piece of Orihime's ass as well (she IS a god, so I'm sure she could handle all of them . ). Again, you decide.

Now for some notes on the chapter:

First of all, yes, I changed the name of the entire story from "The Downward Spiral" to "In This Twilight. Why? Because the original name was more of a placeholder anyways before I could think of a better title. "In This Twilight" is a song off of the Nine Inch Nails album coming in April, and I instantly fell in love with the song as soon as I heard it. I'll put the lyrics to it at the very end, as I felt they were strangely fitting to the entire story.

I KNOW some of you will go WTF MATE? on the Ichigo/Tatsuki thing I threw in. However, I often wondered if the two had some sort of spark going on when they were younger, as I believe they knew each other longer than anyone else close to Ichigo (aside from his family, but that's a given). Not to mention there WAS a part where Karin said that Ichigo brought Tatsuki to his room. Hmmmmmmmmmm…

In any case, I wondered if Tatsuki did have some feelings for Ichigo, but merely harbored them to respect her friend's crush on him. Probably not, but it was a thought anyways

As far as ChizurO goes…I'm an unoriginal whore. I didn't want to spend time trying to dream up a different name for her…him…it.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed reading this, as originally it was supposed to be a GrimmHime oneshot. However, I couldn't think of a way to make an emotional impact for the couple in just one chapter, so I figured I'd kill three other Orihime pairings with one stone.

As for what I'll write next, I'm not sure. I've been neglecting my Organization Lockdown comics, as I didn't have it in me to write comedy with the dark tone of this story. However, I feel it coming back to me, so I'll make a few of those before moving on to my next project.

I've been developing an original story idea of my own, but I still need to fill a few plot holes and make just a couple more characters before I even think of even starting it. However, people have been begging me to continue "Disenchanted", my Xaldin/Belle fanfic (Kingdom Hearts 2 fandom), and I have been feeling the urge to continue that, so that may be the next big thing I finish.

Anyways, thank you all for reading to the very end. I heart you all!

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In This Twilight

Watch the sun,

As it crawls across a final time

And it feels like,

Like it was a friend.

It is watching us,

And the world we set on fire

Do you wonder,

If it feels the same?

And the sky is filled with light

Can you see it?

All the black is really white

If you believe it

As your time is running out

Let me take away your doubt

You can find a better place

In this twilight

Dust to dust,

Ashes in your hair remind me

What it feels like

And I won't feel again

Night descends

Could I have been a better person

If I could only do it all again

But the sky is filled with light

Can you see it?

All the black is really white

If you believe it

And the longing that you feel

You know none of this real

You will find a better a place

In this twilight

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End file.
